Time to Isolate Defence and Strategic Assets. Over a period of time the land mafia and vote bank politics has led to dilution of provisions of “Works of Defence Act”. Why defence installations have become vulnerable is because the cantonments and garrisons have become porous, land has been encroached upon and mandatory distance from the civil inhabitation has been reduced.
If one looks carefully at the outer periphery of Pathankot airbase, the colonies are almost hugging the airbase giving the detractors enough opportunity to approach the perimeter.
Scams like Adarsh in Mumbai, Sukhna in West Bengal and a five star hotel in Agra have compromised the security of the strategic assets. Case in point is construction of a five star hotel on Defence land in Agra that has given a day &night view into the activity of Airborne Special Forces located at Agra which is a strategic national asset. It can prove disastrous if the formationis training for a classified operation because an individual with common military knowledge can assess the objective/ drills to be undertaken for operations by continuously observing the activities in training areas sitting in the hotel room.
If one looks carefully at the outer periphery of Pathankot airbase, the colonies are almost hugging the airbase giving the detractors enough opportunity to approach the perimeter. No matter what kind of security is employed, facts of the matter are that anti national elements can get uninterrupted access to the outer periphery. Government will have to take a very strong action to remove encroachment and strengthen the works of Defence Act so that the required distance is maintained to insulate the installation. There is also a need to fix the culpability of the Defence establishment Staff and Local Military Authority if there is encroachment on defence land.
Single Operational Commander. Napoleon had said, “give me allies to fight”. In war weakest adversary is where leadership is divided, because they agree to disagree on every plan and are often reluctant to take risk, as a result decisions are deferred and delayed. Unified and joint command is a flawed strategy and a good example of how not to conduct military operations. It means that everyone is responsible but no one is accountable. Whereas military operations are executed with a single operational commander who is responsible and accountable. The command and control channel should not be spelt out mid-stream rather it should be spelt out prior to the operations so that the designated commander can assess his capabilities and can ask for additional resources if required.
The intrusion in Air Force base to my mind was routine counter terrorism operations being done by Indian Army almost daily in J&K and troops are very well trained with SOPs in place. However, the race for credit can be costly at times.
However the best suited man is the commander on ground that has intimate knowledge of the geography and has the resources to influence the operations with his integral resources. Parachuting the command and control elements without wherewithal is dangerous, because logistics, dedicated communication and organic headquarter cannot be made available on adhoc bases. In the instant case the command and control was not spelt out right from the word go, but as an afterthought the commander was designated when the operation was almost over, which shows lack of understanding of such complex operations at strategic level.
Race For Credit. Special forces are the ultimate weapons and a tool of deterrence. If they fail, the deterrence value of that force is mitigated. The intrusion in Air Force base to my mind was routine counter terrorism operations being done by Indian Army almost daily in J&K and troops are very well trained with SOPs in place (strike operations to disposal of IEDs/ bodies). However, the race for credit can be costly at times. Thus it is time that Special Forces should say no to the operations that can be executed by regular forces. NSG in the instant case should have let the local formation execute the operations and should have stepped in if requisitioned by the local military area commander.
National Pride Versus National Subjugation. It is better to die with honour than to live with shame. For some time the policy makers must keep the loss and profit theory at a bay. Put a plan in perspective to impose cost on Pakistan.However, one should resort to high risk only if the dividends are high and chances of success are also high.When national pride is at stake best men must lead from the front.
Military Advisors In PMO & NSA. India suffered worst kind of military debacle in 1962 and one of the main reasons was that the Prime Minster Nehru had no military advisor in PMO. As a result the decisions were taken without common military knowledge and its impact on war plans. Mrs Gandhi had the advantage because she had cut out the bureaucratic filters and protocol. She was in direct touch with the Field Marshal Manekshaw on hourly bases. Thus she did not need any military advisor in PMO. To deem that NSA would have the intimate knowledge of military operations or decision support system when fighting an extremely complex war will be miscalculation and a blunder. Rather NSA and PMO should have military advisors so that the basic principle of war fighting is not violated because that leads to confusion and synergy. The operation in Pathankot was not complex as it was made out to be due to so many independent agencies operating independent of each other in same battle space without synergy.
The remarkable specific intelligence provided by Int agencies is a matter of appreciation and one hope that it will further improve in future.
Conclusion
Contours of conflict and the strategy of Pakistan to use non-state actors as a policy to bleed India will remain in vogue for some time now. Reactionary approach is unlikely to deter Pakistan since it in no way is imposing cost for their culpability. Time has come to shift from reactionary to retaliatory strategy and use tools of national power to reverse the threat so that Pakistan is compelled to fight within his own territory.
There is a need to streamline the SOP for application of force to deal with the threat within. Adhoc procedures and loose command and control can’t be allowed to exist. Command and control has to be tight and accountability be fixed with responsibility. Application of Special Forces must be streamlined so that dual and multiple command and control is avoided. For swift and structured response the delegation of power to local military commanders is imperative. The security needs to be handled by professionals with hands on experience rather than by those who have no experience. Bureaucrats are neither capable nor nation should take the risk to allow them to supervise the operations. The call must be taken by professionals however; one must also be prepared for reversal in extraordinary situations. Instead of getting bogged down in mudslinging it is time that a thorough introspection is carried out and lessons learnt are implemented to plug the gaps.
In the end nation owes it to the men who laid down their lives for the cause of the nation. I think nation must also celebrate the acts of extreme bravery displayed by the personals of Armed Forces for saving invaluable lives and vital national assets. The remarkable specific intelligence provided by Int agencies is a matter of appreciation and one hope that it will further improve in future.
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Turf protection has been the biggest bane in a security situation. While it is always taught in all the training institutions that the troops available closest to the point of conflict should be used as first responders, nobody thought it prudent to use the army personnel available within less than 10 kms of the airfield to respond. The IAF wanted to take all the credit and therefore flew in its GARUDAS from Delhi rather than asking for help from the Army. The Army Chief, while flanking the Def Minister during his address to the media, never suggested to him that the Army was in a better position to handle the situation as it had fully trained and equipped troops in the near vicinity. The NSA thought he can handle the situation himself and therefore, take the credit for the success of the operation. In the bargain he botched up the operation. And as regards Punjab Police, less said the better.
Dear Narender.
Excellent eye opener article.
There is no substitute to honest and hard working political and social system of the nation.
Our problems are basically due to lack of determined and effective leadership which has not been able to guide and lead nation to become self reliant in arms and equipment, besides inculcating patriotic ethos in some of our people.
We are open to influences for consideration from all sorts of external and internal vested interests.
We require energetic citizenry and above all a strong Armed Forces like the major powers of the world, which at present we are not.
We can not fight the relentless enemy with primitive weaponry that too the obsolete and discarded stocks from advanced nations. Our men require more training and competence besides patriotic feelings which we have in plenty.
Thanks for great insight and knowledgeable article.
Very true about the reality.
Rather than msdness of war ….be self relince first bcoz at d time of need ….there should no bagging of supply frm others
This foolish strategy or the lack of strategy in countering Pakistan will cost India very heavily in the foreseeable future. Pakistani Army has changed gears by regularly getting the fidayeen squads to attack targets in Punjab. Thus geographically they have widened the ambit or scope of jihadi operations from Kashmir to Punjab. India, on the other hand continues to fight terror within Indian territory. This is bound to embolden Pakistan to expand further into the hinterland. India in principle must consider Pak interests globally as legitimate targets and reprisal attacks far and wide on Pak commercial and diplomatic interests will bring Pak to its knees.
the map which the tsts so desperately needed and would have loved to have! after their point of entry, they would have walked on to tarmac rather than across. is it not a security leak.. why blame media over a minute to minute commentary. this map can be used for a subsequent ops down in the years ahead..!
please remove.. or is such information already in public domain and avail to all and sundry ?? makes me wonder ,.. if so.. why so much hulla gulla on security..
Sir,
This is only a pictorial representation. Kindly go to Google earth that shows the one meter resolution of each hanger, actual alignment of the fence, adm block and all smaller or larger structure. yes it would have been considered a classified probably 20 years back, today you can see everything including the location of security post. Kindly go to google earth. Sir we are living in 21 century.
I am sorry I could not agree with you. I “googled” the Pathankot IAF base and found surely some map of it. In my eyes it is like a silhouette where arguably the runway could be identified. One sees also other “structures” , but whether they are admin buildings or barracks or canteens or military installations is subject to interpretation or guess work. And there lies the crux of the problem raised by col ratti. The map published by you clearly identifies those “structures” for what they are in reality, which is the crucial information for the enemy to strike where. I would have thought such information is classified in the hand of the IAF not to be brought out in the open. I am surprised that is not to be the case in the India’s military intelligence circle. I would add that 21 century has not made human intelligence bearing on information irrelevant. All radar maps are based on digital technology for image processing. Once the data is collected by instruments it is an enormously difficult task without human intelligence input to reconstruct the true picture (i.e. analog) from it which the human brain perceives. In fact, on the ground it is possible to set up false structures which radar imagery could interpret as true things such as runway or hangar. Radar image processing is always supplanted by human intelligence for the image to stand for the true picture. The enemy could not generate that ground reality without access to vital information from human sources. Hats off to col hs rotti to hit the nail here.
Yes you are right DG NSG should be a comando himself. What about the security officer of Air Force Station Pathankot why is he a admin officer why not make a separate selection for security officers in IAF rather than draw them from administration cadre. Its very easy to point out mistakes with others rather than improving yourself. Also in army there is a ethos of leading from the front where was the security officer was he leading the garuds all those who got injured were airmen where was the officer
Very appropriately written sir, its a very simple case of security of the country being handled by inapt hands, who in their one-man up ship want to earn accolades. The military commanders at all levels have been sidelined due to their own follies, aspirations etc.
There cannot be piecemeal solutions to all this, there is a need to comprehensively overhaul the complete Security system, supported by the so called three estates of democracy, who should recognize and support the Defense forces as the fifth estate, media being the fourth.
It should be made to realize to the four estates that if this fifth estate is demeaned and not heard, the four pillars of democracy will not survive.
This episode depicts the character of the country, where me, mine and myself comes first.
An excellent piece of article, very well thought out and timely.
The people responsible must take note of this…….in ‘an advise proof country’.
We are more people – centric than Nation-centric…..All will suffer if we do not take care of ourselves better. Tools of power are meant to be used. The power equation says…power used will grow, unused will diminish and misused will disappear.
Once again my compliments to the author.
A well written article. However, some thoughts of mine:-
1. The DG NSG should be questioned regarding the training being imparted under his command for bomb/IED disposal. He should also be queried as to why he did not put his foot down against an operation which was essentially an Army one. One may consider relieving him from his post. Suggestion to have an Army officer head it will obviously fall on deaf ears(political/IPS)
2. Facts highlighted not withstanding, does the NSG in Bombay know about each and every vulnerable spot in the city thoroughly. If not, should it be deployed in cases like 26/11? If not, why have the force? If the area outside the perimeter of the air force station has been encroached with colonies coming up right up to the fence, then it was an operation in built up area for which NSG IS trained. Why the objection to its deployment?
4. Instead of trying to enforce Works of Defence Act ( which one has not been able to till date in many cases, primarily due to political reasons), we may settle the MPs and MLAs just outside the perimeter of the military installations. The perimeter would automatically receive security of the highest order(‘Z class security!!!).
5. What authority does a local Brigade/sub area commander have over co-located air force installations? Doubtful if any. Is he responsible for the security of such installations? Again doubtful!
6. DSC’s role needs a serious re-think. Vulnerable locations especially military ones should have a more effective force guarding them.
Thankyou for this detailed analysis, you zeroed in all the problems and shortcomings of this operation very Wel. . It seems we haven’t learned much from Mumbai atacks. There was same chaos , and lack of inter service coordination.
The concept of DSC is good only if it is proper, y trained and équiped for protection ops. It looked out of shape highly unprofessional unit.
Excellent. The required strategy has been missing for decades despite we being subjected to proxy war. The hierarchy needs to rise from the deep slumber.