Army asked by govt to stop ‘aggressive patrolling’ of LAC
13 Jun 2013 12:02 AM GMT
The Udhampur-based, Northern Command is chafing at the edges on the various restrictions that have been put on its XIV Corps about patrolling the Line of Actual Control (LAC), in the wake of the recent Chinese intrusion that blew-up into a diplomatic-military incident two months ago.
Sources say that Command has been asked to stop ‘aggressive patrolling,’ and also, stay well within the Indian perception of the LAC. This is being viewed as an assault on its previous efforts of creating a ‘credibile’ military formation that takes on the task of guarding both the Line of Control (LOC) with Pakistan and the LAC with China. The army commander in-charge of the Command, Lt Gen KT Parnaik will be retiring at the end of this month.
A review of the Chinese infiltration incident and its following action was undertaken by the directorate general of the military operations (DGMO), the details of which has not yet been circulated amongst the various military constituents. The DGMO, Lt Gen Vinod Bhatia, is currently out of the country. The review has reportedly sought answers to three questions: How this incident occurred; How was it handled; and, how can it be avoided in the future? However, the first question is largely within the realm of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), as it is the primary force guarding this part of the LAC, but it has the army backing up in the rear.
The second query about handling the situation, was a question that was asked by the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, from army chief, General Bikram Singh and the National Security Adviser, Shiv Shankar Menon. While the latter apparently had kept quiet, the army chief’s reaction was that every little incident should be handed back to the New Delhi headquarters, sources say. About the third query an opinion has gathered ground in South Block that the incident blew up because of the intrusion was leaked to the media from the ITBP. As media began its aggressive coverage on television screens, the armed forces had to step up its efforts.
Sources say that Command has been asked to stop ‘aggressive patrolling,’ and also, stay well within the Indian perception of the LAC. This is being viewed as an assault on its previous efforts of creating a ‘credibile’ military formation that takes on the task of guarding both the Line of Control (LOC) with Pakistan and the LAC with China. The army commander in-charge of the Command, Lt Gen KT Parnaik will be retiring at the end of this month.
A review of the Chinese infiltration incident and its following action was undertaken by the directorate general of the military operations (DGMO), the details of which has not yet been circulated amongst the various military constituents. The DGMO, Lt Gen Vinod Bhatia, is currently out of the country. The review has reportedly sought answers to three questions: How this incident occurred; How was it handled; and, how can it be avoided in the future? However, the first question is largely within the realm of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), as it is the primary force guarding this part of the LAC, but it has the army backing up in the rear.
The second query about handling the situation, was a question that was asked by the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, from army chief, General Bikram Singh and the National Security Adviser, Shiv Shankar Menon. While the latter apparently had kept quiet, the army chief’s reaction was that every little incident should be handed back to the New Delhi headquarters, sources say. About the third query an opinion has gathered ground in South Block that the incident blew up because of the intrusion was leaked to the media from the ITBP. As media began its aggressive coverage on television screens, the armed forces had to step up its efforts.
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