Kargil Intrusion
Was it Plan - X ?
Special Correspondence
In 1987,
immediately afterthe Exercise Brass Tacks, Pakistan government
asked its
Joint Chief of Staff Committee (JCSC) to Siachen glacier. After
prolonged
deliberations, JCSC submitted a comprehensive plan to make India
recoil from
the Saltoro crestline and Siachen glacier. The aim of this
operation,
codenamed Plan - X, was to seize and hold logistics support bases
vital for
maintenance of troops deployed on the Saltoro Crest Line, Siachen
and Southern
Glaciers by surprise attck with a view of trapping all Indian
troops
deployed in the glacier areas and enabling Pakistan to negotiate
withdrawal of
Indian forces from Siachen Glacier from a position of strength.
The details
of this plan were published in a leading Indian defence Journal
in 1992.
Plan - X visualised capture of forward positions of Partapur
garrison
along axis Siari-Tortuk and logistic support bases for Southern
Glaciers by
infiltration across the LC, capturing Thoise Air field Complex
and Siachen
base camp through heli-landing of troops, simulation of major
attacks in
Drass, Kargil, Tangdhar, Pooch to tie down Indan reserve
formations
and stepping up terrorist and guerrilla activity in the Kashmir
Valley.
Plan - X was
shelved because of the prolongation of Taliban war in
Afghanistan
and Benazir government appeared to be totally against such
military
adventure in Siachen. Some Pakistani Generals did not agree with
Benazir in
postponement of Plan - X. They took India’s support to Dr
Najilbullah’s regime in Afghanistan as an excuse to attack Siachen. On a
note of
prophetic warning, the author of ‘OP. Topac-Kashmir imbroglio’
warned,
"these Generals may not have their way immediately but it cannot be
assumed that
they will not have their way in the future".
Source: Kashmir
Sentinel
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