Around this time last year, the Kargil operation was well under way. The chief of army staff, Gen Pervez Musharraf, satisfied with the operational plans that he had gone through in minute detail, decided to take then prime minister Nawaz Sharif into confidence in January this year. This was when Vajpayee was planning his bus ride to Lahore the following month.
Musharraf was very clear that he would not be at the Wagah border to salute the Indian prime minister. Using the ruse that they had to attend to a visiting Chinese dignitary, the entire top brass of the armed forces stayed put in Islamabad. "By inviting Vajpayee and talking peace with India while Kargil was in the offing, the army and Sharif ensured that Pakistan's credibility and honour abroad would be badly damaged," writes Ahmed Rashid, a political analyst.
A year later, however, with Sharif out, the Pakistani army's focus has shifted from the heights of Kargil to try and bring order into what many say is a failed state. With the nitty-gritty of governance on its mind, Kargil suddenly seems far away.
When asked to comment on the position of the Pakistani troops on the LoC, the foreign office keeps a stony silence and says that it is for the armed forces to comment. "There is no change in our operational positions along the LoC," was the only comment Outlook could squeeze out of an official of the Inter-Services Public Relations.
"But," says an officer who's served along the LoC, "unlike Siachen, where we face the worst sort of hardships, it is easier along the LoC. Rations and fuel are brought in during summer and we have access to radio communication and in some areas, because of boosters set up, we can even monitor television. The weather ranges from -5 degrees to -10 degrees so it is still better than Siachen where the worst forms of frostbite are witnessed. In fact, more soldiers are killed by the weather at Siachen than by Indian bullets".
The Pakistani troops are deployed during the winter months in Lipa, Pando, forward Kahuta, Haji Pir and Kel. But there are no soldiers at the Kargil heights; the official stand is that after the Washington accord of July 4, all Pakistani troops came back to the LoC.
It suits Islamabad fine to have Indian troops in defensive positions in a hostile terrain. The Pakistani army's Kargil operation did not envisage keeping the troops at Kargil during the winter months. But it has succeeded in bleeding the Indians first in Siachen and now in Kargil.
However, pressure is still on Musharraf to recall his boys from the LoC as well. After he made the unilateral gesture of moving back from the international borders following the Washington deal, the Americans want peace signals from the Pakistani army. However, according to former director general of the isi and director general of military intelligence, Gen Asad Durrani, "One should not give in to the American dictates. History has shown us that if you give on one issue they always want more."
Another former isi chief, Gen Hamid Gul, told Outlook, "Today we are very comfortable at the LoC because of the changes we established there after 1971. We have an excellent network of roads where every area is linked with jeepable roads. Since we are in the lower regions and not entirely in the open as compared to the Indians, our boys will have a better winter."
However, there are other politicians who feel that the army should try and let the civilians run the affairs of the country and not concentrate completely on domestic issues. "We can never relax and the job of the soldiers is to safeguard our frontiers. With the prevailing mood in India and with Musharraf in full command in Pakistan, the chances of India trying to get even with us over Kargil will always loom large over us. Do not forget the downing of the Atlantique plane," says a defence expert. Will Musharraf agree?
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