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Strategies & Market Trends : India Coffee House -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mohan Marette who wrote (4519)	6/13/1999 12:16:00 AM
From: Mohan Marette	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 12475

Kargil (Kashmir) COLD FACTS If the intruders are not evicted by winter, the army will be fighting the elements too The prospect of the conflict in Kargil dragging on till October or beyond is a cause of great concern to the armed forces. They feel all-out efforts must be made to flush out the infiltrators before then. Three weeks of fierce combat, airstrikes and continuous artillery shelling have demonstrated that the infiltrators have locked on to Indian positions and are able to inflict severe damage. Though corresponding harm has been enforced on the Pakistani-backed aggressors, they still remain at an advantageous position. "Some of the heights they continue to occupy are impregnable. They occupy strategic posts on the ridge lines in Dras, Kaksar, Mushkoh Valley, Turtok and Chorbatla," says a senior army official. Strategists believe that in those posts, hidden within the folds of jagged rocks, a group of just four men would be enough to halt and hold back the progress of a battalion. Airstrikes have been effective to a point but have yet to unearth how many more positions are still with the enemy. But senior army officers believe that the battle must now take on a more intensive phase for these reasons: The Srinagar-Leh highway, the lifeline for troops, is open for four months in a year from June to September, after which it is snow-bound. If the infiltrators are not dislodged by then, the army will have to move massive supplies of rations, ammunition and men before the highway is rendered impassable. The stocks and rations would also have to take civilians into account. This would be a monumental task which it can ill-afford. The army's "circle and choke" policy has yet to pay dividends. Intelligence reports indicate that resupply routes for the Pakistan-backed intruders are still active. The routes operational on the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir side are Gultari township opposite the Mushkoh Valley, Olthingthang, Pakistan's forward post in the Kargil sector, and Mian Lungpa, across the Chorbatla post. Come winter and the army may find it close to impossible to plug these routes. If the Srinagar-Leh highway is snow-bound, the army has to resort to another desperate option, which is using the Manali-Leh highway. This would mean an extra distance of 300 kilometres and having to traverse three steep passes as against only the Zojila Pass on the present highway. The onset of winter will considerably affect morale as well as the physical condition of troops. They would have to contend with ferocious high-altitude winds, poor visibility and constantly-changing atmospheric conditions. This will reduce accuracy of ground troops and affect logistics. Moreover, at those heights, men have to acclimatised thoroughly. With the enemy occupying the high ground, mobility of Indian troops would be reduced to a minimum. The capacity to carry weight and for exertion is drastically reduced in sub-zero temperatures, greatly affecting battle-preparedness. The intruders have fortified themselves in concrete bunkers, which also provide some shelter from the elements. Indian troops would also need fortifications at those heights if it has to take them on, building which is a near-impossible task at the moment. outlookindia.com