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REVISITING KARGIL

FIVE YEARS AFTER the end of the Kargil war, a chairborne brigade has charged into action, ready to relive the murderous battles of that 1999 campaign. At one level, the fracas can be dismissed as political theatre, not dissimilar to the manner in which the Bharatiya Janata Party-led alliance sought to cash in on the affair. Yet it is hard not to be disturbed by calls for greater military aggression, particularly given that India is still struggling to address the transfiguration of its military relationships by nuclear weapons. The criticism of the Vajpayee Government's conduct of the war comprises four elements: that there were gross intelligence failures; that the conduct of operations by the Indian military's higher command was inept; that the use of air power was delayed; and, finally, that errors of judgment and a loss of Indian territory were covered up. In all these charges there is some basis of truth. What the Members of Parliament leading the ongoing Kargil campaign seem to have missed out are the critical nuances.

Much of the furore has been sparked by the revelation of an in-house Army assessment of the use of air power during the Kargil conflict. According to the study, the Indian Air Force under-reacted to the Pakistani intrusion. Its subsequent bombing runs, the Army claims, were also less than successful. The same point has been made time and again by serving and retired Army personnel. Yet the Air Force's initial actions were based on what intelligence was available, none of which suggested that Pakistani soldiers armed with air defence missiles were holding built-up positions. Secondly, the IAF had made it clear that orders not to cross the Line of Control placed great constraints on accuracy. Thirdly, it did not — and does not — possess the kinds of slow-flying aircraft designed for the bunker-busting operations needed at Kargil. Could it have done better? Perhaps, but that needs not cheap inter-force sniping, but serious debate on the kinds of roles the IAF may be called on to play in future limited conflicts.

Several other elements of the debate also require careful consideration. Some insist, for example, that the Line of Control should have been crossed in the course of the conflict. The then Chief of Army Staff, General V.P. Malik, made a case for that course of action, pointing out that the natural lines of access to several key Pakistan-occupied positions lay on the other side of the LoC. Crossing the LoC might have saved military lives but it would almost certainly have compromised the diplomatic gains of India's decision not to do so. It could have led to an escalation of the conflict, a perilously uncertain business in a nuclear neighbourhood. It is true that Pakistan's continued occupation of Point 5353-metres in the Dras sector was inexcusably hushed up by the BJP-led administration. What is not clear, however, is whether the costs of retaking Point 5353 would have justified such an enterprise. The supposed intelligence failure before Kargil is another case in point. In key senses, there was no failure: the establishment failed to interpret correctly what field information was before it. Sadly, not one constructive word has been said on pushing intelligence reforms ahead. All aspects of the conflict deserve a serious evaluation, something the official Kargil Review Committee failed to do. Petitions asking for re-investigation are pending before the Delhi High Court; they provide an opportunity to the Manmohan Singh Government to learn from past errors and set the situation right. The last thing needed is a witch-hunt: after all, with justice and moderation on its side, India emerged from Kargil as the military and moral victor.

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• REVISITING KARGIL
• DEALING WITH OIL PRICES
• The BJP's past is not its future
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• Enough of legalese
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