NEW DELHI, Jan 14:
Angry over the beheading of Indian soldier on Line of Control, Army Chief Gen Bikram Singh today issued a clear warning to Pakistan saying India reserves the right to retaliate at the “time and place” of its choosing.
Talking tough over the January 8 incident in Mendhar area of Jammu and Kashmir, he said the beheading was “unacceptable” and “most unpardonable” and the troops would respond immediately, aggressively and offensively if provoked.
Slamming Pakistan for planting lies to justify the “pre-meditated and pre-planned” cross-LoC attack, he said Pakistan Army’s commando unit SSG had carried out the assault.
He did not rule out the possibility of Lashker-e-Taiba terrorists providing help to Pakistan Army in the assault in which two Indian soldiers were killed, one of them beheaded.
“It (beheading of Lance Naik Hemraj) is unacceptable and unpardonable. It is barbaric. It defies all logic. It is against the very rules of engagement. It is against the ethics of soldiering… We are annoyed,” the Army Chief said addressing a press conference on the eve of Army Day.
He revealed that Pakistani Army had beheaded two Indian soldiers earlier also. “Yes, this has happened. We cannot conceal this fact,” he said when asked whether two jawans of Kumaon regiment had been beheaded by Pakistani Army over a year back.
Asserting that the Pakistani Army “needs to be accountable”, he said, “we reserve the right to retaliate at the time and place of our choosing.”
Replying to a volley of questions during the nearly two-hour interaction, Gen Singh said he expected the Indian commanders “to be aggressive and offensive in the face of provocation. I don’t expect my commanders to be timid… We shall not be passive when fire at. Therefore, when fired at, when provoked, we shall respond.”
He said that there was prima facie some “tactical error” on part of the Indian Army unit involved and “corrective measures” will be taken.
“At the strategic arena, what is of consequence and has hurt us is the behading of our soldiers. That is something which we will not tolerate and we will give a strong message. This has been conveyed by the Government,” Gen Singh said.
At the same time, he discounted the possibility of the skirmish leading to full-fledged war and was dismissive of Pakistan’s nuclear blackmail, saying it had no relation to the local conflict.
“These are localised operations and would be dealt with as per our Standard Operating Procedures,” the Army Chief said.
To questions about retrieving Hemraj’s head from Pakistan, he said the issue will be taken up strongly at diplomatic level as also military level, including the Brigadier-level Flag meeting today.
“Let us see if the Pakistan Army heeds to our protests and complies with it… We will have to pressurise them to give the head back,” he said, while noting that India never indulges in such inhuman behaviour.
On the repeated violations of the border ceasefire that has been in place since November 2003, he put the onus on Pakistan for its maintenance.
“We will uphold the ceasefire as long as the adversary (Pakistan) does,” he said, while asserting that Indian troops had never violated the agreement as claimed by Pakistan.
“Pakistani Army needs to be accountable. It should respect civil control which it has not been doing,” he said.
Rejecting Pakistan’s contention that its action was in retaliation to Indian attack on January six, Gen Singh said, “They (Pakistan) have planted lies to justify what they have done.”
Maintaining that Pakistani Army was “poised for this operation” much in advance, he said such an attack requires preparation of at least 15 days, including recce, and cannot be launched in just two days.
The Army Chief lauded the Indian commanders and troops deployed on the LoC, saying their response to Pakistani firing has been “measured and perfect”. At the same time, he said “no restrictions” are imposed on the Indian Army on the LoC.
“Commanders must understand that the Army hierarchy is standing behind them,” he said.
He said while the issue is being taken up with Pakistan at Government and military levels, directions have been given to Army commanders to respond immediately if provoked.
Gen Singh said the ceasefire, in place since November 2003, has been holding except for “some aberrations” for which he squarely blamed Pakistan.
“All ceasefire violations have been by them. It is very rare that we have fired and that is also when we are provoked in terms of certain activity,” he said.
The Army Chief said local formation commanders along the LoC have been given “freedom” to respond as per the ground realities there in case of ceasefire violations.
“The reply would be given but the LoC would not be crossed over. We have been firing back. The orders are very clear to local commanders that when fired at, they have to retaliate,” he said.
Asked about Air Chief Marshal NAK Browne’s statement that India may have to look at other options if Pakistan continues ceasefire violations, Gen Singh said, “You may seek clarifications from him regarding options. I suppose what he perhaps meant was in the domain of diplomatic and economic options.
“As far as military options are concerned, it is an operation which will be dealt with by the Army at the tactical level. We have adequate resources, wisdom and competent field commanders who would be able to deal with the situation.”
Asserting that Pakistani action was a tactical one, Gen Singh said, “War-fighting starts off from a duel, then it goes to engagement, then you go to battle and from there to campaign and then to war. This is the hierarchy in which you go and this action lies at the bottom of the entire use of force.”
When pointed out that there was a ceasefire violation every third day on the LoC, he said majority of this was in the Krishna Ghati and Uri sector and the ceasefire violation has been observed along major portions of the boundary.
“As far as upping the ante is concerned, I do not think this will happen. This is happening in the segmented area. They would continue to do so with the aim of pushing in terrorists and if the game plan is bigger, we would be monitoring it. Prima facie it appears an action at local level,” he said.
Asked about the motive behind Pakistani action in Mendhar, he said, “We are analysing this. Options will come out depending on how the Pakistan Army functions in future.”
Gen Singh said such attempts are made when the Pakistani troops “get frustrated” in sending infiltrators across the LoC.
He said various scenarios can be worked out which includes Pakistan Army’s wish to reactivate the LoC or the court cases faced by the DG, ISI there as possible reasons behind the action.
“Last year, there were 112 infiltration attempts compared to 52 in 2011… They take advantage of these actions and push in infiltrators. This is also done to distract. We are working this. Our surveillance is being enhanced and our plans are being expanded,” he said.
On the options before the Army, Gen Singh said at this level, the situation would be handled by the local commanders on the LoC in a professional manner as per the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).
“If things flare up beyond this thresh hold, then options come in. I suppose there are options which were covered very well,” Gen Singh said.
On the red lines, he said these are “thresh hold of tolerance and in this case, we are disturbed and angered. There are methodology of dealing with this. There are other elements of national power which can be used for dealing with the situation.”
Asked if Chinese troops were aiding Pakistani troops in building up their defences, Gen Singh said, “No, there is no such intelligence alluding to this. There are Chinese soldiers in PoK who are more involved in infrastructure development projects there. But their involvement in strengthening of defences is something about which there is no intelligence.”
Last year, Gen Singh had said that Chinese troops were in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK) and were involved in infrastructure projects there.
On the role of terrorists in operations along the LoC, he said the, “Pakistan Army has this tool of terrorists also. As far as our intelligence is concerned from the battalion, the operation was carried out by the Pakistan Army commandos SSG and their Army regulars.”
The Army Chief suggested that “there would be an attempt to create upsurge in the internal security in Jammu and Kashmir and we are prepared” after the withdrawal of the American troops from Afghanistan in 2014.
Asked about the nuclear bogey raised by the Pakistani side, he said, “This action is at the sub-conventional level… Their nuclear sabre-rattling is not part of it. This is the part sub-conventional operation and is at the lowest level of it.”
Asked about the inquiry conducted by Army Headquarters under Director General Military Operations to look into the functioning of the Technical Support Division, Gen Singh said the report was expected to reach him in next few weeks.
“There was a Board of Officers (BoO) carried out into the functioning of the Technical Support Division and the report will come to me in next few weeks. We are going into performance of the group whether we need it. It is a performance audit of the group. I can assure you that the inquiry would be very fair,” he said.
Asked about the recent incident where a Major was accused by the family of Gen V K Singh for attempting to bug their house, he said, “We give full respect to our former Army chiefs and all our ex-servicemen.
“I was outside. First thing I instructed when I came back was to Delhi Area commander and apologise to the former chief and felt sorry for what has happened. We need to uphold the prestige of our former chiefs.”
Commenting on the budgetary cut of Rs 10,000 crore and its impact on Army’s modernisation plans, he said the force has been assured by the Government that its plans for having its fleet of attack choppers and a Mountain Strike Corps would not be allowed to be affected for want of funds.
Gen Singh said the Pakistan Army should be pressurised to retun the head of Lance Naik Hemraj who was beheaded by its troops in Poonch sector in Jammu and Kashmir.
The Army Chief said he would also visit the home of Hemraj whose family has been on a fast for the last six days demanding that his head be brought back from Pakistan.
“We have to make the Pakistan Army accountable. There are diplomatic, political ways of doing it. As far as the Army is concerned, increasing force and violnce is a national decision. We want the head back but what do you when a country and its Army are in denial mode?
“I think we should pressurise them nationally and internationally as part of our national element so that they are made accountable and they are made to return the head of our soldier which they have taken away,” he said in his annual Army day press conference here.
Gen Singh said that for getting the head back, “it will be taken up at the Government level and you will have to appreciate that this has to to be done through diplomatic channels.
“It will also be conveyed to the DGMO. It is also being conveyed today in no uncertain terms. Let us see if Pakistan Army heeds to our request and complies to it,” he said.
Hemraj and Sudhakar Singh were killed by Pakistani troops on January 8 in Poonch sector in Jammu and Kashmir. The Pakistan Army regulars took away the head of Hemraj as trophy and also mutilated the body of the other soldier.
Hemraj’s wife and mother have refused to end their six-day-old fast demanding that the Army Chief visits their house and assure them that his severed head will be brought back from Pakistan.
Asked about the demand by his family, the Army Chief said “I will go there after the Army Day is over (tomorrow). There is no problem in it. I did not know about it (the demand by his family).”
He said he owed this to the 91 other officers, JCOs and other ranks who have sacrificed their lives in various operations across the country.
Hitting out that the Pakistan Army, Gen Singh said beheading is against all rules of engagement.
At the same time, he said there were some “tactical errors” on part of the local unit which will be looked into later as an inquiry at the moment will affect the morale of the forces.
“Our teams should be balanced to take on the onslaught of the enemy,” the Army Chief said.
Putting the onus of maintaining the ceasefire on Pakistan, the Army Chief said India will uphold it as long as the “adversary” does.
He applauded the Indian Army Commanders at the LoC, saying they did a “great job”.
Gen Singh discounted the possibility of the skirmish leading to a full-fledged war and was dismissive of Pakistan’s nuclear blackmail, saying it had no relation to the local conflict.
“Indicators does not show upping the ante,” he said.
On any response to the Pakistani action, he said it has to be the decision of the Government.
Noting that the morale of the force along the LoC was “high”, Singh said he would go there at an “opportune time”.
The Army Chief said he shared the grief of slain soldier Hemraj Singh’s widow. “I am sorry (for all her pains and sorrows). She is a part of the Army family… She will be provided with all the entitlements,” he said.
Regretting the beheading incident, he said the Indian Army would have never indulged in such type of acts.
“We give respect to enemys’ bodies. This is our value and you have seen this during Kargil war,” he said.
Gen Singh opposed any dilution of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in Jammu and Kashmir, saying any decision to revoke it from any part should be taken only after getting inputs from security agencies and stakeholders.
He also disfavoured demilitarisation of Siachen Glacier area against the backdrop of the “trust deficit” existing with Pakistan.
“I am of the view that we should not dilute provisions of the AFSPA. Terrorists are afraid of this because this gives us powers to carry out operations against inimical elements and enemies of the state who defy the rule of law.
“Any decision to revoke this from any part where it is applicable must be taken after consideration of all facts and inputs from all security agencies and stakeholders that are deployed,” Gen Singh said.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has been pushing for partial lifting of AFSPA from the State and asking all stakeholders to shed rigidity to help take a decision based on the improved security situation in the State.
Gen Singh said AFSPA was “an enabling” act as it “gives us additional powers to operate in an environment which is marked by very high degree of uncertainty and complexity and an asymmetric environment where you cannot differentiate between a friend and a foe as the terrorist merges with the backdrop and hides amongst the locals.”
“There are challenges for soldiers while carrying out operations and we got to give these enablers to the soldiers,” the Army Chief said.
On the Army’s stand on Siachen Glacier area, he said, “it is strategically important for us. It is our area and we need to continue to hold it.”
He said if any thought is to be given to consideration in terms of demilitarising and pulling out, “it is to be done in the backdrop of the trust deficit which is to be addressed and we got to wait and watch the conduct of the Pakistan Army and then take a call on it.”
He said any decision in this regard by the authorities concerned has to be “very conscious, deliberate and pragmatic and not lose out the strategic gains that we have made. We have shed a lot of blood in trying to gain that advantage and let us value that.” (PTI)
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