Game changers: Pak tactical nukes, Chinese troops in PoK : The Tribune India

Join Whatsapp Channel

Game changers: Pak tactical nukes, Chinese troops in PoK

A significant Chinese military presence in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) has raised the geo-strategic stakes.

Game changers: Pak tactical nukes, Chinese troops in PoK

Map showing the China Pakistan Economic Corridor



Vijay Mohan in Chandigarh

A significant Chinese military presence in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) has raised the geo-strategic stakes. Pakistan has also adopted a policy of using low-yield tactical nuclear weapons to counter a convectional Indian assault. 

PoK comprises the Gilgit-Baltistan region lying to the north of the LoC and the so-called Azad Kashmir on the LoC's west. This provides China a strategic land link across the Karakoram to the warm waters of the Arabian Sea and is known to have significant rare earth deposits. 

The land link from Gwadar, a deep sea port in Pakistan's Baluchistan province, to Kashgar in Xingjian province in Western China through the Khunjerab Pass in PoK is known as the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). For China, it provides an alternative route for energy supplies from the Middle-East and trade, without having to traverse the maritime route through in South East Asia, which is longer and prone to interdiction. The 2,450 km long, $46 billion CPEC is a central point in Sino-Pak relations and has been included in China's 13th five-year development plan.

Complementing the supposedly all-weather highway, a rail link and oil and natural gas pipelines are proposed to be part of this corridor. The northern axis of this corridor, known as the Karakoram Highway, however has been closed to traffic since January 2010 following a massive landslide along the Hunza river that resulted in about 30 km of the road being submerged. China, also making forays into Afghanistan and Central Asia, has gained access to Pakistani naval bases in its endeavour to protect its oil supplies as it currently lacks a true blue water capability to secure its trade routes.

While Chinese workers may have been deployed in PoK in some numbers for a long time, China significantly increased its military presence in the middle of the last decade, ostensibly to carry out development works such as building dams, power projects, roads and communication networks. Varying reports have assessed the number of Chinese troops in PoK to be up to 5,000. They have also been spotted along the LoC. Since some of these projects are sponsored by the Chinese, their presence in PoK is expected to be a long-term or permanent affair. 

The Chinese posture along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) has, over the past decade or so, has become increasingly dominating. Transgressions across Indian claim lines have increased manifold. Chinese troops have on some instances come several kilometers inside India forcing a stand-off for days.

A recent report by the Pentagon warns that China has increased defence capabilities and deployed more troops along the Indian border. The report also talks of increased Chinese military presence, including bases, in various parts of the world, particularly Pakistan. At the same time, Pakistani too has ramped up military deployment along the LoC in the Kargil sector.

The Indian Army is in the process of raising a mountain strike corps. Though based in the north-east, it could be deployed in the north-western sector also. Last year, Pakistan declared its intention of using low-yield or tactical nuclear weapons with a relatively lesser area of impact, to hold back an Indian offensive. It has claimed that requisite infrastructure is in place for launching tactical nukes. This has added a new dimension to the whole scenario.

The border issue with China and Pakistan remains a tricky affair. So, it leaves open the possibilities of a conflict or attempts to grab territory. The 1999 Kargil war saw little involvement from China, but since then, the China has grown economically, modernised its military, developed border infrastructure and adopted an aggressive posture. 

There has been a talk in the Indian security establishment of a “two-front war”, implying that India may have to militarily confront Pakistan and China simultaneously. Some also speak of a “two-and-a-half front war” by adding the jihadi or terrorist element present in the hinterland to the Sino-Pak collusion.

As Chinese economic and security interests in the region grow, a future conflict with Pakistan along the LoC, or elsewhere, could see greater Chinese involvement or collusion with Pakistan, which has to be factored into Indian military planning. It could be more so in terms of moral, diplomatic, military and logistic support though the possibility of direct Sino-Indian confrontation on the LoC remains slim unless China, for its own self interest instigates a conflict. An increasing probability of China getting embroiled in an Indo-Pak conflict situation or having Chinese troops present in PoK providing a psychological buoyancy could embolden Pakistan to play mischief again.

The war zone

Theatre: About 160 km along the LoC through Mushkoh, Dras, Kaksar, Kargil and Batalik in J&K, at heights up to 18,000 feet

Duration: May-July 1999

Operational names

Indian Army: Op Vijay

Indian Air Force: Op Safed Sagar

Indian Navy: Op Talwar

Pakistan: Op Badr

Cause: Pakistani troops occupied about 130 vacated posts on the Indian side of the LoC.

Significance: Pakistan’s aim was to interdict the critically important 

National Highway 1-A, thereby cutting off Ladakh from Kashmir.

Outcome: Pakistani troops evicted. 

Tactical and diplomatic victory for India.

HOW THE WAR UNFOLDED

May 3, 1999: Pakistani intrusion in Kargil reported by local shepherds

May 5: Army patrols sent up; Five Indian soldier captured and tortured to death.

May 9: Heavy shelling by Pakistan damages ammunition dump in Kargil

May 10: Infiltrations first noticed in Dras, Kaksar and Mushkoh sectors

Mid-May: Army moves in more troops from Kashmir Valley to Kargil Sector

May 26: IAF launches air strikes against infiltrators

May 27: IAF looses two fighters — MiG-21 and MiG-29;. Flt Lt Nachiketa taken POW (Prisioner of War)

May 28: IAF MI-17 shot down by Pakistan; four air crew dead

June 1: Pakistan steps up attacks; bombs NH-1-A

June 5: Indian Army releases documents recovered from three Pakistani soldiers indicating Pakistan’s involvement.

June 6: Indian Army launches major offensive in Kargil

June 9: Indian Army re-captures two key positions in the Batalic sector

June 11: India releases intercepts of conversation between Pakistani Army Chief Gen Pervez Musharraf, while on a visit to China and Chief of General Staff Lt Gen Aziz Khan in Rawalpindi, as proof of Pakistani Army’s involvement.

June 13: Indian Army secures Tololing in Dras

June 15: US President Bill Clinton, in a telephonic conversation, asks Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to pull out from Kargil

June 29: Indian Army captures two vital posts — Point 5060 and Point 5100 near Tiger Hill

July 2: Indian Army launches three-pronged attack in Kargil

July 4: Indian Army recaptures Tiger Hill after an 11-hour battle

July 5: Indian Army takes control of Dras. Sharif announces Pakistani army’s withdrawal from Kargil following his meeting with Clinton.

July 7: India recaptures Jubar Heights in Batalik

July 11: Pakistan begins pullout; India captures key peaks in Batalik

July 14: PM Vajpayee declares operation Vijay a success. Government sets condition for talks with Pakistan

July 26: Kargil conflict officially comes to an end. Army announces complete eviction of Pak intruders

Top News

Arvind Kejriwal to be produced before Delhi court today as 6-day ED custody ends

Excise policy case: Delhi court extends ED custody of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal till April 1

In his submissions, Kejriwal said, ‘I am named by 4 witnesse...

Delhi High Court dismisses PIL to remove Arvind Kejriwal from CM post after arrest

Delhi High Court dismisses PIL to remove Arvind Kejriwal from CM post after arrest

The bench refuses to comment on merits of the issue, saying ...

US makes another remark on Kejriwal's arrest, reacts to freezing of Congress bank accounts

US makes another remark on Arvind Kejriwal's arrest, reacts to freezing of Congress bank accounts

We encourage fair, transparent and timely legal processes, s...

Explainer: Why BJP is flying solo in Punjab and Odisha

Explainer: Why BJP is flying solo in Punjab and Odisha

A multi-cornered contest is always advantageous for BJP; it ...


Cities

View All