Headlines
'Sending army into Pakistan can escalate into war'
New Delhi, June 11
Amid voices in the
government that the Indian Army's precision strike against insurgents
inside neighbouring Myanmar was a lesson to those who incite terror,
former top army officials have said sending troops into Pakistan in hot
pursuit of militants can escalate into war.
Former army chief Gen. (retd) V.P. Malik said the situation was different on the western border.
Talking
to host Karan Thapar during a programme on India Today television
channel, Gen. Malik said surgical strikes do not take place on the
western border but there is artillery bombardment.
Another former
army chief Gen. (retd) N.C. Vij, who was also present during the
programme, said that while the army did a commendable job in its
response to the militant attack, there were lessons to be learnt as far
as the strike was concerned.
Answering a query, Gen. Malik said India cannot send troops into Pakistan as the issue will escalate.
"Moreover,
one needs to bear in mind that Pakistan is an enemy nation whereas
Myanmar is not. Sending troops there (Pakistan) will escalate the
problem and blow into a full-fledged war. The manner of response is
different when it comes to Pakistan," he said.
Asked about Pakistan possessing nuclear weapons, Gen. Malik said "the nuclear state aspect is a little overblown".
"First
and foremost, Pakistan will not use its nuclear weapons as they would
be the first to be affected by it as radiation does not remain limited.
Nuclear weapons are meant to prevent wars and not win them.
"Pakistan
is well aware of the consequences of using a nuclear weapon. Moreover,
do you think they are going to target New Delhi? The diplomatic
community of the entire world is in New Delhi and if they are targeted,
you can well imagine what would happen to Pakistan," Gen. Malik said.
He said if Pakistan's nuclear weapons go into the wrong hands, it was the West that will be targeted.
He said there were three-four very significant points in the army operation along the Myanmar border.
Gen.
Malik said there was very good coordination between the intelligence
agencies, and the army was able to get actionable intelligence from all
sources.
"Second, I would say very good decision-making.
Operations of this nature on the border... slightly across the border
would require political permission also so the whole decision making has
gone (about) very fast and apparently there is no hesitation on the
part of the political authority to give this permission.
"Third, I
would say as far as the operation is concerned, the air force would be
involved also, the helicopters would have been involved in this, so that
is another good coordination point."
Gen. Vij also said the army
carried out a commendable job on the Myanmar border but it was caught
completely off-guard by the militants during their strike on June 4.
"They
were caught off-guard in areas extremely prone to attacks by militants.
There was intelligence failure and they had let their guard down.
"The
hot pursuit that was conducted along the border of Myanmar is no doubt a
rendition of honour, but there are several lessons that need to be
learnt as well," Gen. Vij said.
About the role of the Myanmar
government and the army, Gen. Vij said: "I believe the operation could
not have been possible without the help and coordination of the Myanmar
government and the army. Without informing them, things could have gone
wrong.
"Miscommunication could have led to casualties on our side too," he said.
He said the troops who conducted the operation were commandos specially trained for such tasks and having the latest equipment.
"Militants
hiding along the Myanmar border is not a new problem. We have seen this
happening since the past 20 years and the Indian Army has been involved
in similar operations over there for long."
Asked about
statements that the operation along the Myanmar border was also a kind
of message to Pakistan, he said one should think before issuing
statements on army operations.