'Pak-China Have Shifted Focus From K To J'

'...from Kashmir to Jammu.'

'The Galwan clash in 2020 resulted in a large number of troops being moved from J&K to Eastern Ladakh which caused a thinning of deployment in the Jammu area.'

"Pakistan engages in 'war by other means' against India by supporting terrorist groups or non-State actors," says retired Brigadier B K Khanna, SM, VSM who served in several counter-insurgency operations and commanded an army formation in the Western sector and the sub area in Udhampur near Jammu.

"Pakistan denies the presence of Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar who has been designated as a terrorist by the UN and said to be 'dead', but two days ago a video has surfaced showing him attending a wedding in Faisalabad."

"The recent attacks in Jammu have been carried out by an outfit which is a front for Jaish," Brigadier Khanna tells Rediff.com's Archana Masih.

What are the reasons behind the increase in terror attacks in Jammu region that has taken the lives of 11 army men and 9 pilgrims since January -- and 51 personnel since 2021?

There are several reasons:

Pakistan was worried after the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019. Pakistan and China are all-weather friends and that is why 10 months after Article 370 was annulled, we saw the clash in Galwan.

The Galwan clash resulted in a large number of troops being moved from J&K to Eastern Ladakh which caused a thinning of deployment in the Jammu area which had remained peaceful since 2014.

Pakistan-China decided to shift focus from K to J -- Kashmir to Jammu. China has helped Pakistan build infrastructure and launching pads.

One must also remember that the Pakistan army chief visited Turkey last year and commander of te Turkish land forces was in Rawalpindi recently. Despite the help India has given Turkey after the earthquake in 2023, the country has not been very helpful to us. Turkey is providing arms and military assistance to Pakistan.

The sorry state of Pakistan's economy makes it impossible to wage a conventional war against India. Therefore, it engages in 'war by other means' against India by supporting terrorist groups or non-State actors.

Pakistan finances and trains groups like Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lashkar-e-Tayiba, Hizbul Mujahideen etc.

Pakistan denies the presence of Jaish chief Masood Azhar who has been designated as a terrorist by UN and said to be 'dead', but two days ago a video has surfaced showing him attending a wedding in Faisalabad.

The recent attacks have been carried out by an outfit which is a front for Jaish-e-Mohammed.

The Supreme Court has directed the Election Commission to conduct elections in J&K by September. Pakistan will try its best to activate terror activity in the Jammu area so that both Jammu and the Kashmir Valley are seen as trouble spots and results in postponement of the much anticipated assembly election.

What measures need to be taken or reinforced to prevent these attacks and loss of military and civilian lives?

Our counter-insurgency grid must dominate the hilly areas. The headquarters should be based right there and we must strengthen the human intelligence network on the ground.

Troop deployment in the Jammu region needs to be reinforced. The first thing is to fill in the gaps that have occurred due to the shifting of troops to Ladakh.

There is a provision in the armed forces that soldiers who have retired can be recalled within two years in case a situation merited it. These soldiers can be deployed to fill in the gaps on ground. This is my suggestion, but the armed forces know best what options they have.

The convoys should not move at a fixed time and ambush spots should be identified and secured.

Village defence guards in the border areas provide protection to villagers from terrorists and give information and assistance to the counter insurgency grid.

The village defence guards should be revived in the Jammu region and we should follow offensive defence against the terrorists.

What are the difficulties of terrain in the heavily forested areas that provides a tough challenge to security forces in operations against terrorists?

The area has jungles, dense forests and rugged terrain. There are a number of nallahs and riverines which are used for infiltration from across the border. It is estimated that around 50 terrorists have been pushed in by Pakistan in this area who operate in small groups.

The forest provides safe hiding places for these terrorists.

Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com