GUEST

GIVE CREDIT WHERE IT IS DUE

LT GEN (RETD) SATISH NAMBIAR

The major issues discussed when the Kargil conflict is recalled are mainly that of: intelligence failure, inadequacy or incompetence due to poor coordination; the sometimes questionable political strategy and response; the military strategy and direction of the conflict; and the semantics about whether it was a limited war, a localised conflict or a skirmish. Whatever the outcome or conclusions of such discussions, there can be little argument about the fact that the operations conducted in the Kargil sector after the ingress by the Pakistani military came to light were an outstanding military achievement by the Indian Armed Forces junior leadership and the men they were privileged to lead into battle, measured by any standards, national or international. To attack enemy held positions at forbidding mountainous heights ranging from 15,000 to 18,000 feet, in many cases through hand-to-hand fighting, and restore the ‘status quo’ along the Line of Control in the Sector, was an achievement that will no doubt often be recalled when military tactics are reviewed and studied in military institutions around the world.

The nation as a whole owes a debt of gratitude to the gallant young officers and men who ensured victory against overwhelming odds. A victory that more or less signalled the end of India’s international isolation following our nuclear tests, and turned the Jammu and Kashmir issue on its head in as much as, the inviolability of the Line of Control is now the mantra in international discourse on Jammu and Kashmir. Not a mean achievement, in as much as, it has together with the Indian Armed Forces’ similarly outstanding response to the Tsunami disaster, also led to India’s military capability having forged a niche for itself in global and regional security calculations.

Therefore, for all the self congratulatory postures adopted and plaudits claimed by sections of the political leadership and the diplomatic community for India’s emerging stature on the global stage, the abiding truth is that recent international recognition and acknowledgement of India’s potential as an emerging regional power is firstly, the outcome of the victory in Kargil achieved by the Indian military, coupled with the Tsunami response, and secondly, the country’s economic growth propelled by our enterprising and determined entrepreneurs who stride the international stage despite the official establishment.

To that extent, it is only appropriate that, on the tenth anniversary of the Kargil operations we “SALUTE” our gallant soldiers, sailors and airmen, and more particularly those who made the supreme sacrifice for the nation. It may also be appropriate on the occasion to remind our political leadership, the civilian bureaucracy, our diplomatic community, our colleagues in the corporate world, the ubiquitous media, and the public at large, that India’s growth potential as a power of some significance, is contingent on its capacity to ensure its territorial integrity and the security of its people and assets. Hence maintenance of a credible military capability is imperative. Such a capability cannot be built on procurement of weapons and equipment alone. It has to be anchored on human resources - the apolitical Indian Armed Forces - that need to be respected and well cared for in times of peace. Peace ensured by the professionalism and credibility of a military that can effectively take on adversaries who no doubt wish to do everything possible to retard India’s growth and emergence in the regional and global arena. Peace sustained by political and diplomatic processes that do not squander away the fruits of military victory achieved at great human and material costs; as we did in 1948 by going to the United Nations when outright military victory in Jammu and Kashmir was within reach; and again at Shimla in 1972.