Joy Purkayastha
Indian Express
Friday, June 25, 1999
Title: Army documents Pak designs Author: Joy Purkayastha Publication: Indian Express Date: Friday, June 25, 1999 NEW DELHI, JUNE 24: Inside the imposing corridors of South block, where the three service chiefs have their office, the Army and the Air Force today showed off Operation Vijay. With photographs, brochures -- still smelling of new ink -- and seized guns, ammunition and equipment -- sporting the ravages of weather and battle in the Kargil sector -- it was time to counter the propaganda from across the border. The most important aspect of this exercise were the brochures prepared by the Army. One such brochure, titled `Pak Army plan for intrusion', began:``The unfolding of Pakistan's plans for intrusion in the Kargil sector indicates that its inception took place several months ago.'' Not very revealing facts now, considering the widely reported intelligence failure on Indian side to take note of the intrusion. The brochure went on: The plan was to have been kept top-secret, which would involve the least number of people to avoid any activity opposite Kargil that might indicate Pak intentions. Only an `in-principle' concurrence without any specifics was to be obtained from the Pakistan Prime Minister. A cover plan must exist to obfuscate the aggression and try to bring about the defusion of the escalation within an early time frame. The operation should help internationalise the Kashmir issue, for which global attention has been flagging for some time. The brochure also explained that large gaps along the Line of Control (LoC) in the rugged terrain of the Kargil sector, Drass and Batalik sub-sectors and Mushkoh Valley were chosen to execute the plans. The intrusion began in winter, with the Pakistanis expecting that it would not be discovered till May, when the Zoji La pass reopens. Several other aspects of the plan, like use of militants as porters and artillery, have also been listed. The brochure added: ``The basic aims of the Pakistan Army were to give Pakistan control over a substantial piece of ground across the LoC, enabling her to negotiate from a position of strengthand alter the status of the LoC.'' A prized ``trophy'' which now confirms Pakistan's plans, is a map recovered after the capture of Point 5140 in the Tololing Heights. This map was on display inside South Block today. The imprint line shows it was printed in Pakistan in 1984 under orders of a Pakistani Major General, Anis Ali. ``The important thing about this map,'' said Army spokesperson Col Bikaram Singh, ``is that the black line which indicates the LoC shows that even the Pakistanis had drawn the line exactly where it should be.'' Col Singh then took out the redcover-bound, original copy of the 1972 agreement between the Indian and Pakistani military commanders when the LoC was drawn up. In this book, each of the features which demarcate the 740 km long LoC stretching between Sangam and Point NJ 9842 are listed. There are no discrepancies on the seized map. In connection with the Pakistan Army intruders crossing the LoC and Pakistan's observations about it, even Army chief General V P Malik latersaid: ``With marked maps, a military man, without a GPS can make an error of a few 100 m on the ground. But an error of 8-9 km (initial infiltration inside Indian territory) is unimaginable.'' Also on display were mortars, universal machine guns, AK-56 and AK-47 assault rifles, rocket launchers of Pakistani, Romanian and Chinese origin, binoculars -- all used by Pakistan Army intruders during close combat with Indian troops in Kargil, Batalik and Drass over the past one month.
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