Drass (Ladakh), July 25: “Be alert and never trust your enemy, be it Pakistan or China.” This is former Army chief Gen Ved Prakash Malik’s message for the armed forces standing guard at the icy heights here. Gen Malik, who was the Army chief during the 1999 Kargil war, exuded confidence that if a war situation arises today, India is better prepared than it was during Kargil. He said his biggest takeaway from the Kargil war is that the enemy cannot be trusted even if there is “political show” of friendship. For Gen Malik, it was a case of once bitten twice shy, as he recalled the Lahore Declaration that was signed between India and Pakistan in February 1999 and ratified by the parliaments of both countries under which they had an added responsibility towards avoiding nuclear race, as well as both non-conventional and conventional conflicts.
“Never trust your enemy, even if there is a political show of friendship like signing of agreements. This happened before the Kargil war too, the two countries had just signed an agreement (Lahore Declaration) and we were taken by surprise,” Gen Malik told PTI on the sidelines of a function here. “Within a couple of months, they intruded our territory, not with Mujahideen or jihadis, but with Pakistan army,” he added.
He said the “forces should remain alert, be it China or Pakistan” and there is no room for complacency even if any country is showing or displaying “friendship politically”. “Ceasefire or no ceasefire, I have seen ceasefire broken so many times. So, it does not matter, we have to remain alert,” Gen Malik added. He said the Kargil war is proof that the Indian Army has the capability and capacity to chase the enemy out even if they were caught by surprise.
“If a war situation arises today, we are ready to fight, we are far more equipped and better prepared. The human resources are as good today as they were 24 years back but the capabilities today have improved a lot compared. “The armed forces have transformed. We have better equipment, better surveillance, we are prepared to face the challenge,” Gen Malik said. He recalled the situation during 1999 Kargil war with Pakistan and said the challenges were not limited to terrain and weather but on the equipment part too. “However, today we are much better off,” he said. “During Kargil it was different, initially we suffered a lot of casualties because, more because we did not have adequate information and once we got to know more details, we were able to push the Pakistani regular army disguised as raiders from the heights of Kargil, Gen Malik wwsaid. (PTI)
