* Gen Suhag takes over as new Army chief
NEW DELHI, July 31: Outgoing Army chief Gen Bikram Singh today said that India has given a befitting reply to Pakistan after the beheading of an Indian soldier by Pakistani troops in 2013 along the Line of Control (LoC) even as he did not rule out the possibility of skirmishes on the western front in future.
Talking to reporters before demitting office, he admitted that face-offs between Indian and Chinese Army soldiers take place while patrolling their ‘claimed areas’ along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) but they are dealt with in accordance with the existing mechanisms.
Asked if India had given a befitting reply after the January 8, 2013 beheading incident, he said, “It has been done. Please understand that when we use force, that use is from tactical to operational to strategic levels.
“When I mention that during that incident, it was aimed at operations at the tactical level, which have been undertaken. I think this has been done by the local commander, the chiefs have nothing to do with it,” Gen Singh said.
After the incident, he had said during a press conference that the Army will retaliate at a time and place of its choosing. He had given the statement six days after the incident in which Pakistani Special Forces and terrorists beheaded Lance Naik Hemraj and mutilated the body of another jawan Lance Naik Sudhakar Singh along the LoC in Poonch sector of Jammu and Kashmir.
Gen Singh admitted that face-offs take place between troops of India and China while patrolling the “disputed” areas along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) but ruled out that a skirmish can take place between the two countries along their border.
“The patrolling by our troops and PLA soldiers is done in an area which is disputed. Both sides have claims to that area so when patrols come in over there, there is a face-off once in a while and that is dealt with the as per the rules of engagement in place. We have robust mechanism to deal with these issues and serious situations that come up,”Gen Singh said.
He was asked about over 200 transgressions along the LAC this year before he handed over the charge of the 1.3 million strong force to Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag.
Asked if there was a possibility of a skirmish with China, he said there was no such possibility with that country saying, “I do not foresee this as we have got robust mechanisms which are in place. There is an understanding at the macro level.
“When I went to China, there was tremendous understanding between the two countries and I do not foresee any contingency of a skirmish and (there are) very comprehensive rules of engagements,” he said.
Gen Bikram Singh had visited China earlier this month and had discussed the various ways of strengthening relations between the militaries of the two countries.
India and China were engaged in a face-off last year when the Chinese troops entered 19 kms inside Indian territory in Depsang valley near Daulat Beg Oldie area close to the LAC and left after hectic parleys between the two Governments for around three weeks.
On Pakistan, he said, “On the western front, you know very well that it is the Line of Control which has traditionally been very active border and at the tactical level, there is firing always from across the border.”
To a query on spurt in incidents of ceasefire violation with Pakistan along the International Border and the LoC, Gen Singh said, “It (spurt in ceasefire violation) has been on for quite some time.
“Our troops are responding to them. These are incidents at the tactical level and they should be left at that level. It is an ongoing process going on for years. The soldiers are doing their job effectively,” he said.
Asked about transgressions on the China border, he said, “On our northern borders, even we are carrying out patrolling and the patrolling by our troops and PLA soldiers is done in an area which is disputed.
“Both have claims to that area so when patrols come in over there, there is a face-off once in a while and that is dealt with as per the rules of engagement in place and we have robust mechanisms to deal with these issues and serious situations that come up, he said.
He said units of Mountain Strike Corps to be deployed along the China border have started being raised on January 1, this year.
Gen Singh is retiring today after a tenure of 26 months as Army chief.
Meanwhile, Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag, whose appointment as Army chief had kicked up a row, today took over as the head of the 1.3 million strong force succeeding Gen Bikram Singh.
Gen Suhag assumed charge after his predecessor handed over to him the Chief of Army Staff baton in his South Block office here.
The new Chief takes over at a time when the force is facing challenges of modernsation in its artillery, infantry and air defence arms and is also preparing itself for facing a possible multi-front war.
59-year-old Suhag, a Gurkha officer who had participated in the 1987 Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) operation in Sri Lanka, was till now the Vice Chief of Army Staff.
He will have a tenure of 30 months as the 26th Army chief.
Suhag was made the Vice Chief of Army Staff in December last year. Before that, he was the Eastern Army Commander from June 16, 2012.
He was at the centre of a controversy triggered by ‘discipline and vigilance’ ban imposed on him by the then Army chief Gen V K Singh in connection with an intelligence operation in Assam earlier.
The ban on Suhag, the then 3 Corps Commander, was lifted soon after Gen Bikram Singh took over in May 2012.
BJP had questioned the hurry in making the appointment and insisted that the matter be left to the next Government.
However, soon after the NDA Government took over, Defence Minister Arun Jaitley had said the new dispensation will continue with the appointment made during the UPA rule.
Suhag was a Company Commander in ‘Operation Pawan’ in Sri Lanka in 1987 and commanded 53 Infantry Brigade engaged in counter-insurgency operations in the Kashmir Valley from July 2003 to March 2005.
An alumnus of Sainik School, Chittorgarh, he joined National Defence Academy in 1970 and was commissioned into 4/5 GR (FF) in June 1974.
The General Officer has attended various career courses in India and abroad which include LDMC at CDM, Secunderabad in 1997-98, NDC Course at New Delhi in 2006, Executive Course in USA in 2005 and Senior Mission Leaders Course (UN) in Kenya in 2007.
He holds the distinction of commanding 8 Mountain Division in Kargil from October 2007 to December 2008. (PTI)
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