Today, India is observing the 25th anniversary of Kargil Vijay Diwas, in which Indian forces successfully pushed back intruders belonging to Pakistan’s Northern Light Infantry regiment. But this victory came at a very high cost as we lost 500 brave warriors in this three-month long battle.
Although a lot of ice has melt from the icy peaks of Kargil in the last 25 years, it is always prudent to do an honest introspection of incidents like these, to prevent its recurrence in the future.
Though Kargil was a brief conflict, it holds enduring lessons. It serves as a reminder of the importance of robust military preparedness, effective intelligence gathering and inter-service cooperation.
Besides there are other two very important issues related to intelligence are; collating the data i.e., putting together and organising gathered data into a structured manner to get some positive deduction out of the entire information and then disseminating the collated data to the right recipients at the right time so that the user can use it to the maximum benefit.
The main agencies for gathering enemy information are Intelligence Bureau (IB), Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and Military Intelligence.
Besides all these intelligence systems, keeping physical observation and domination by way of patrol and ambushes, etc, over the given area of responsibility by the defender for keeping the area under domination for getting to know new developments, are very essentials.
With having proper intelligence, mountain warfare, that too to fight at a very higher altitude like Kargil, needs constant preparations in terms of physical fitness, having special weapons and equipment, keeping adequate reserve both of men and materials are very important.
As regards troops, it is very essential to have adequate fresh reserve of troops, for the commander to be able to rotate the troops in such battle field as it takes a great toll on the physical fitness upon the soldiers.
The cost of recovery of ground lost ground, especially in high altitude, as exhibited in the Kargil war or may not be recoverable soon as the case is in eastern Ladakh.
But flawed schemes like the introduction of the Agniveer scheme and tinkering with the well-established Regiment system of Indian Army is going to only add to our cup full of security woes. We can’t afford to cut-size the armed forces, especially the army, considering that the security situation in our region is worsening and we have huge area to guard.
The IAF currently has 31 fighter squadrons and with the impending retirement of three squadrons of vintage Mig-21 by 2025, IAF will be left with less than 30 squadrons.
A major proportion of the Indian Navy’s frontline warships lack advanced weapon systems, rendering them equally vulnerable to hostile submarines.
But Centre’s insistence on Atmanirbhar Bharat and banning imports of crucial military hardware is further delaying the modernisation of our military. Indigenisation is good. But not at the cost of national security, considering that the domestic defence manufacturing industry, especially regarding critical weapon systems like fighter jets, armed drones and modern automatic assault rifles, we are still evolving and will take time to be fully self-sufficient.
Till that happens, we need to import critical military hardware so that we are not forced to scurry for weapons at the height of a conflict, as it happened during the Kargil War.
In short, the situation on our hands doesn’t seem to be rosy at all. There is still a lot of catching up that needs to be done, in terms of coming at par with the various kinds of security threats that are confronting the country.
There is too much political interference in the functioning of the top hierarchy of our armed forces and our generals have remained mute spectators. How long will it take to set our house right, is a question to which nobody seems to have any ready answers. But faster we pull up our socks, better it is for the security of this country.