New Delhi, July 26
As the country marks the
16th anniversary of the Kargil war on Sunday, former army chief Gen.
V.P. Malik, who headed the Indian Army during the conflict, says the
force is still facing problems of shortage of weapons and equipment,
though there has been much progress since 1999.
"There was a
shortage of weapons and equipment during the Kargil war, the same
problem persists today," the former Army chief told IANS.
"As I keep hearing, large number of deficiencies are there, and it (sorting out the problem) should be a priority," he said.
Army
Chief General Dalbir Singh, speaking at the Kargil war memorial at
Drass, in Jammu and Kashmir, on Saturday, said that shortage of clothing
and equipment has been identified and it would be tackled soon.
A
report of the parliamentary standing committee on defence recently
painted a grim picture of modernisation plans of the Indian Army, giving
a long list of shortages from wheeled guns, tanks, missiles, and
ammunition, to basic amenities like bullet-proof jackets, night vision
devices, and even mosquito nets.
The panel, in its report said
the shortage of basic amenities includes shortfall of 2,17,388 high
ankle boots, of 13,09,092 canvas brown rubber sole shoes with laces,
4,47,000 ski masks, and 1,26,270 number of mosquito nets.
Malik
however added that the Army has come a long way from the 1999 conflict
when India even lacked surveillance equipment along the border.
Asked
about the difference between the situation in 1999, and today, the
former army chief said: "The situation is different today; 1999 was
different. There were no surveillance devices on the border, one had to
walk from one post to other in the snow."
"Today things are better, we have some sort of devices," he said, adding that upgradation of equipment is needed.
Gen.
Malik also mentioned that India has stationed more troops along the
border now, a process that was started with raising of the 14 Corps
after the Kargil war.
The former army chief also stressed on
including the army in the decision making process, instead of being
consulted only after a conflict starts.
"We must have military
leadership in the decision making loop. Wars can happen suddenly,
instead of consulting when something happens," said the retired general.
"Political talks can be on, but the Army should be kept aware of the strategic environment," he said.
The
Kargil war was fought in the summer of 1999 to evict Pakistani regular
forces who had intruded and occupied posts vacated for the winter on the
Indian side of the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir.
The Kargil war was fought for more than 60 days, ended on July 26.
The
attack by Pakistan on the Indian side was seen as a long planned act,
and while initially Pakistan blamed it on insurgents, documents found on
the dead bodies and statements by Pakistani leaders and their army
chief showed involvement of Pakistani forces.
In the conflict, the Indian Army lost around 500 officers, soldiers and jawans.
(Anjali Ojha can be contacted at [email protected])
