Srinagar: Admitting that Kargil intrusion
was a result of intelligence failure, former Army Chief Gen
(Retd) V P Malik on Tuesday said a repeat of 1999-like attack
cannot be ruled out as long as Pakistan Army continues its
proxy war against India.
"Pakistan Army has not given up this agenda of proxy war.
As long as proxy war goes on you cannot say there won`t be
another Kargil-type of war," Malik who was the Army Chief
at the time of Kargil war told reporters here.
Malik, who was here to take part in 12th anniversary of
operation Vijay, said the Army and other security forces have
to remain alert to ensure that another Kargil does not take
place.
"We have to remain alert to make sure that if ever
there is an attempt from Pakistan Army, We are ready for it,"
he said.
Gen Malik said it was the failure of both military and
civil intelligence and lack of surveillance which allowed
the Pakistan Army to carry out Kargil operation.
"Yes, we were taken aback. In that I blame both
military intelligence and civil intelligence and (lack of)
surveillance," he said.
The former Army Chief said the army was taken aback
and surprised by the Kargil intrusion as it was initially
thought to be an infiltration bid by militants.
"We were surprised. Initial reports were that some
militants have infiltrated which was a continuous process at
that time. But as time passed, we realised that it was the
handiwork of Pakistan Army in view of the Artillery shelling
from across the Line of Control and the helicopters flying in
the area," he said.
He said today the Army is better equipped as they have
got gadgets like radars, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and
satellites, which were introduced after the Kargil War.
"Besides the improvement in surveillance, the intelligence
has also improved," he said.
On the scheduled talks between Foreign Ministers of
India and Pakistan, Gen Malik said there was nothing wrong in
the dialogue at diplomatic level.
"Diplomatic dialogue at political level must go on.
There is nothing wrong in it. You can send messages about
26/11 or the recent Mumbai blasts across," he said.
However, the soldiers guarding the borders of the country
cannot afford to lower their guard.
Earlier, Malik and General Officer Commanding of Army 15
Corps Lt Gen S A Hasnain laid a wreath at the war memorial at
Badamibagh cantonment here to pay tributes to the Kargil war
martyrs.
PTI
