Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, June 3: To counter the threat of China, whose troops have repeatedly been intruding or ingressing inside the Line of Actual Control (LAC) into the Indian side in Ladakh as well as other parts of the country, the Government of India is giving final touches to Mountain Strike Corps, which would be fully equipped to launch an offensive inside the enemy’s territory.
Highly placed sources told Excelsior that the establishment of the Mountain Strike Corps with an estimated 43,000 soldiers including 500 to 700 officers, who would be highly trained in mountain warfare and capable of taking fight into the enemy’s territory was in the final stages. The number of soldiers could go up as per the needs and requirements.
“A detailed proposal of the Defence Ministry for constitution of the Mountain Strike Corps has in-principle been approved by the Union Government and it would get a formal nod in the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) meeting in the next few days. As the setting up of the new Corps would involve huge expenditure, the Defence Ministry has already obtained the clearance from the Union Finance Ministry,’’ sources said.
They added that the Mountain Strike Corps would not only be useful in tackling China but would also act as a deterrent against Pakistan as vast portion of the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir falls in mountainous areas in the Kashmir Valley and twin border districts of Rajouri and Poonch in Jammu region.
The Mountain Strike Corps, which is likely to have its headquarters at Panagarh in West Bengal, would cover entire North East areas bordering China including Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh besides Uttarakhand etc and, whenever required, Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir.
Sources said three Corps presently operating in Jammu and Kashmir including Leh based 14 Corps, Kashmir based 15 Corps and Jammu based 16 Corps were trained in ground war. The new proposed Mountain Strike Corps would be fully offensive in nature and trained and prepared only for major offensives in case of mountain war with China and Pakistan.
Sources said the Union Government proposed to make the Mountain Strike Corps fully ready within the 12th Plan as it involved a huge expenditure running between Rs 70,000 crores to Rs 80,000 crores.
They added that the Strike Corps would be capable of taking the fight into the enemy’s territory within the few minutes and would also be trained in launching the nuclear attacks.
Sources said the Defence Ministry has also been strengthening tanks and infantry combat vehicles in Ladakh and Sikkim. It was also developing infrastructure along 4057 kilometers LAC as per the requirement.
The new Mountain Strike Corps will have two specialized high-altitude divisions for rapid reaction force capability in mountains, which will give India the much needed strength against China.
Worthwhile to mention here that India had faced many problems in its May-July 1999 Kargil war and lost a number of officers and soldiers of Army and Air Force while evicting Pakistani regular troops, who had captured the heights during the snowfall in the winter.
The proposal of Mountain Strike Corps had been mooted earlier also but it was shelved on the ground that it would make the image of India as an aggressive country. However, frequent ingressions by China in Ladakh and North East has made the Indian leadership re-visit its strategy and give nod to set up the Mountain Corps.
The new Corps would also boost the Indian military’s strength, which was roughly based at 13.5 lakh as against 22.5 lakh of China.
According to sources, India completely stands for peace and had no intentions of any war with Pakistan or China behind the launch of Mountain Strike Corps but added that giving a boost to India’s striking capabilities had become necessary in view of China raising its infrastructure to a large extent along Indian border including Ladakh, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand etc.
Sources admitted that the setting up of Mountain Strike Corps was necessitated after increased transgressions by China in Leh, which were followed by over 20 kilometers deep intrusions into Daulat Beg Oldi sector in Ladakh a couple of months back followed by reports of construction of five kilometers road along the LAC in the same district.
With additional armoured regiments and infantry units based in Ladakh, Sikkim and Uttarakhand, the new Mountain Strike Corps will also make India capable to launch counter offensive into Tibet in the event of a Chinese attack, sources pointed out.
“With the development of Agni-V and Agni-IV ballistic missiles — coupled with the ongoing progressive deployment of Sukhoi-30 MKI fighters, spy drones, helicopters and missile squadrons in the North East — the overall aim is to have “strategic deterrence” in place to dissuade China from embarking on any “misadventure”, they added.
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