The Indian army is viewing the peace overtures made by Pakistani army chief Pervez Musharraf with a fair amount of scepticism. His offer of withdrawing troops from the international border, according to a senior army officer, does not address the core problem of a troop build-up along the LoC. "Pakistan is yet to honour the agreement between the dgmos of the two countries to keep troops a kilometre away from the LoC. So we cannot take Musharraf at his word," a senior general told Outlook.
He also pointed out that the Pakistani army chief was the man who planned the Kargil operations and, therefore, the Indian side would be very wary of talking peace. "Pakistan has to show that it means business. Let them withdraw the troops from the LoC. It is along the LoC and not across the international border that there is heightened tension and military activity," he said.
The army also sees a link between the Pakistan build-up along the LoC and militant activity in the Kashmir valley. And any talk of peace must also address the low-intensity proxy war that Pakistan is abetting in Kashmir.
Much of the scepticism stems from the army's belief that the Pakistani army chief is sympathetic to militant groups and that all the talk of de-escalation may be merely for international consumption. After the Kargil intrusions, officers point out, the army has every reason to be suspicious. There is no guarantee, they say, that the Pakistani army will not send its forces disguised Mujahideen.
Also, two major wars - 1965 and 1971 - were fought with a military regime in place. So the friendly overtures, the army believes, could well be followed by aggression. The chief of army staff, Gen V.P. Malik, has also struck a cautious note on Gen Musharaff's offer to pare down troops along the international border. The army seems to be striking the same sceptical note as the mea which has not been responding enthusiastically to the friendly noises being made by Musharraf.
