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Army tells Govt to go slow on normalising Indo-Pak ties.
SUNDAY, 27 JANUARY 2013 00:19 RAHUL DATTA\ MOHIT KANDHARI | NEW DELHI\ JAMMU
The Indian Army has cautioned the Government, asking it to wait till May-end before taking any steps towards normalising bilateral relations with Pakistan.
The Army is not sure of Pakistans intentions despite the fortnight-long calm on the Line of Control (LoC) which came after the Pakistan Army entered Poonch sector and beheaded one Indian soldier and mutilated the body of another.
Following the countrywide outrage over Pakistan Armys barbarity, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on January 15 that it cannot be business as usual with Pakistan.
Significantly, Pakistan on Saturday cancelled the secretary-level water talks with India that were scheduled to be held from January 28 in Islamabad.
Talks between the Water Secretaries of India and Pakistan, scheduled to be held in Islamabad during January 28-29 have been postponed. New dates for the talks are yet to be decided, an official of Pakistans Foreign Office told the Press.
The official, who did not wish to be identified, did not specify reasons for the postponement of the parleys.
The two sides were scheduled to discuss the Tulbul navigation project-Wullar
Barrage issue during the talks.
Reports in sections of the Pakistani media cited sources as saying that the cancellation of the talks was linked to the recent spurt in tensions between the two countries.
However, reports from New Delhi said the move was apparently linked to the retirement of Water Resources Secretary D V Singh, who is set to step down at the end of this month.
This is the second high-level bilateral interaction that has been put off because of bad atmospherics between India and Pakistan. Earlier this month, Pakistan Commerce Minister Makhdoom Amin Fahim called off a scheduled visit to India to attend a business meet in Agra.
In view of these developments the Indian Army wants the Government to tread carefully.
Making it clear to the political leadership that the Pakistan Army should not be trusted to uphold the ceasefire, Army Chief General Bikram Singh has advised Defence Minister AK Antony to wait for the snow to melt to gauge Paksitans intention.
He pointed out that winter months do not usually see ceasefire violations as most of the ingress routes for infiltrators are blocked by snow.
In summer, the Pakistan Army provides covering fire to the infiltrators to enable them to sneak into Indian territory.
General Singh reportedly told Antony that India should wait for at least three more months and see how the Pakistan Army acts once the snow starts melting towards March-end or mid-April.
He told Antony that the Indian Government should wait and watch before moving ahead with the political process, sources said here on Saturday.
Elaborating upon the Pakistan Armys game plan, sources said summer months see maximum infiltration bids and ceasefire violations as the Pakistan Army tries to to push in as many militants as possible till October-end or mid-November.
Once snow blocks the ingress routes, the militants try to enter through the less arduous Poonch sector which is south of the Pir Panjal ranges and the Indian security forces are able to counter this thrust.
Pakistan Director-General of Military Operations(DGMO) Major-General Aashfaq Nadeem assured his Indian counterpart Lieutenant-General Vinod Bhatia on January 10 that orders were given to commanders on the front to respect the LoC and ceasefire.
Pointing to the risk involved in taking Pakistan Army on its face value, officials said even as the sector commanders of the two armies held a flag meeting on January 14 to discuss the decapitation of Lance Naik Hemraj, four ceasefire violations took place in Poonch sector.
Moreover, eight ceasefire violations were observed from the day Hemraj and his team were ambushed by the Special Services Group(SSG) commandos of Pakistan Army, they said.
More than 118 ceasefire violations were recorded last year as compared to 80-odd such transgressions in 2011 indicating that Pakistan was determined to stoke violence in Jammu and Kashmir, they said.
In fact, last year saw Pakistan brazenly violating the ceasefire every third day and Intelligence reports said more than 500 trained militants were waiting to infiltrate from across the LoC and the International border in Jammu region.
Based on the Armys assessment, Antony recently said it was too early to speak about normalization of relations with Islamabad. Tension had reduced along the LoC after the two DGMOs talked but I cannot set a timeline for normalizing the atmosphere, he said.
Antony added that infiltration attempts were going on even in extreme winter. If this is the case now, what will be the position in the summers?
Antony also said Pakistan had given several assurances to India but it remained to be seen how these assurances translate into action.
Army tells Govt to go slow on normalising Indo-Pak ties
SUNDAY, 27 JANUARY 2013 00:19 RAHUL DATTA\ MOHIT KANDHARI | NEW DELHI\ JAMMU
The Indian Army has cautioned the Government, asking it to wait till May-end before taking any steps towards normalising bilateral relations with Pakistan.
The Army is not sure of Pakistans intentions despite the fortnight-long calm on the Line of Control (LoC) which came after the Pakistan Army entered Poonch sector and beheaded one Indian soldier and mutilated the body of another.
Following the countrywide outrage over Pakistan Armys barbarity, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on January 15 that it cannot be business as usual with Pakistan.
Significantly, Pakistan on Saturday cancelled the secretary-level water talks with India that were scheduled to be held from January 28 in Islamabad.
Talks between the Water Secretaries of India and Pakistan, scheduled to be held in Islamabad during January 28-29 have been postponed. New dates for the talks are yet to be decided, an official of Pakistans Foreign Office told the Press.
The official, who did not wish to be identified, did not specify reasons for the postponement of the parleys.
The two sides were scheduled to discuss the Tulbul navigation project-Wullar
Barrage issue during the talks.
Reports in sections of the Pakistani media cited sources as saying that the cancellation of the talks was linked to the recent spurt in tensions between the two countries.
However, reports from New Delhi said the move was apparently linked to the retirement of Water Resources Secretary D V Singh, who is set to step down at the end of this month.
This is the second high-level bilateral interaction that has been put off because of bad atmospherics between India and Pakistan. Earlier this month, Pakistan Commerce Minister Makhdoom Amin Fahim called off a scheduled visit to India to attend a business meet in Agra.
In view of these developments the Indian Army wants the Government to tread carefully.
Making it clear to the political leadership that the Pakistan Army should not be trusted to uphold the ceasefire, Army Chief General Bikram Singh has advised Defence Minister AK Antony to wait for the snow to melt to gauge Paksitans intention.
He pointed out that winter months do not usually see ceasefire violations as most of the ingress routes for infiltrators are blocked by snow.
In summer, the Pakistan Army provides covering fire to the infiltrators to enable them to sneak into Indian territory.
General Singh reportedly told Antony that India should wait for at least three more months and see how the Pakistan Army acts once the snow starts melting towards March-end or mid-April.
He told Antony that the Indian Government should wait and watch before moving ahead with the political process, sources said here on Saturday.
Elaborating upon the Pakistan Armys game plan, sources said summer months see maximum infiltration bids and ceasefire violations as the Pakistan Army tries to to push in as many militants as possible till October-end or mid-November.
Once snow blocks the ingress routes, the militants try to enter through the less arduous Poonch sector which is south of the Pir Panjal ranges and the Indian security forces are able to counter this thrust.
Pakistan Director-General of Military Operations(DGMO) Major-General Aashfaq Nadeem assured his Indian counterpart Lieutenant-General Vinod Bhatia on January 10 that orders were given to commanders on the front to respect the LoC and ceasefire.
Pointing to the risk involved in taking Pakistan Army on its face value, officials said even as the sector commanders of the two armies held a flag meeting on January 14 to discuss the decapitation of Lance Naik Hemraj, four ceasefire violations took place in Poonch sector.
Moreover, eight ceasefire violations were observed from the day Hemraj and his team were ambushed by the Special Services Group(SSG) commandos of Pakistan Army, they said.
More than 118 ceasefire violations were recorded last year as compared to 80-odd such transgressions in 2011 indicating that Pakistan was determined to stoke violence in Jammu and Kashmir, they said.
In fact, last year saw Pakistan brazenly violating the ceasefire every third day and Intelligence reports said more than 500 trained militants were waiting to infiltrate from across the LoC and the International border in Jammu region.
Based on the Armys assessment, Antony recently said it was too early to speak about normalization of relations with Islamabad. Tension had reduced along the LoC after the two DGMOs talked but I cannot set a timeline for normalizing the atmosphere, he said.
Antony added that infiltration attempts were going on even in extreme winter. If this is the case now, what will be the position in the summers?
Antony also said Pakistan had given several assurances to India but it remained to be seen how these assurances translate into action.
Army tells Govt to go slow on normalising Indo-Pak ties
