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MHA-Army turf war over ITBPs control escalates even as Chinese retreat
NEW DELHI: The three-week military standoff with China on the Ladakh heights may have now de-escalated but it has triggered a raging turf war between the home ministry (MHA) and the defence ministry (MoD), much like the 26/11 terror strikes in Mumbai had provoked a blame-game among different maritime security and intelligence agencies.
The Army, backed by MoD, has taken to strongly reiterating its decade-long demand for the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) to be placed under its ``operational control'' for ``better and coordinated border management'' along the 4,057-km Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China.
Having already pushed for jurisdiction over ITBP with national security advisor (NSA) Shivshankar Menon, coupled with inter-ministerial consultations on the Naresh Chandra taskforce on national security, the MoD-Army combine now wants ``an early decision'' by the Cabinet Committee on Security to resolve the imbroglio. ``Single-point command and control has become critical after the Chinese intrusion,'' said a senior officer.
But MHA has already dismissed the move, holding Army will not get control over ITBP come what may. One of the seven central armed police forces (CAPF) under MHA, ITBP mans the LAC along the Tibet border with around 17 battalions. And, Army is positioned in ``depth'' for support with some 23 battalions. MHA officials stress ITBP showed alacrity in reporting the 19-km deep intrusion by the Chinese soldiers in Depsang Bulge to all authorities concerned on April 15 itself.
The Army, however, contends there are ``glaring deficiencies'' in the ``deployment and patrolling patterns'' of ITBP, which is also ``not optimally-equipped in weaponry'' and has ``limitations'' in reacting to operational contingencies. ``The trip-wire situation along the LAC can escalate without much transition time...ITBP, which has a police mindset, is not geared for this,'' says another officer.
The MHA stand has been backed by the external affairs ministry in the past with the belief that border management with China is best done by a CAPF during peace-time. ITBP automatically comes under Army's operational control during any conflict.
India's land borders with China, Pakistan, Myanmar, Bangladesh and Nepal totalling 14,880-km all suffer from a similar lack of coordination and synergy among multiple forces manning them. Besides, Army and MHA are also at loggerheads over the latter's move to replace Assam Rifles with BSF along the 1,643-km border with Myanmar.
This when both the Border Management Task Force and the Group of Ministers' report on ``reforming the national security system'' after the 1999 Kargil conflict with Pakistan had stressed the ``One Border-One Force'' principle. ``Multiplicity of forces on the same borders has inevitably led to the lack of accountability as well as problems of command and control,'' held the GoM report.
MHA-Army turf war over ITBP’s control escalates even as Chinese retreat - The Times of India
NEW DELHI: The three-week military standoff with China on the Ladakh heights may have now de-escalated but it has triggered a raging turf war between the home ministry (MHA) and the defence ministry (MoD), much like the 26/11 terror strikes in Mumbai had provoked a blame-game among different maritime security and intelligence agencies.
The Army, backed by MoD, has taken to strongly reiterating its decade-long demand for the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) to be placed under its ``operational control'' for ``better and coordinated border management'' along the 4,057-km Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China.
Having already pushed for jurisdiction over ITBP with national security advisor (NSA) Shivshankar Menon, coupled with inter-ministerial consultations on the Naresh Chandra taskforce on national security, the MoD-Army combine now wants ``an early decision'' by the Cabinet Committee on Security to resolve the imbroglio. ``Single-point command and control has become critical after the Chinese intrusion,'' said a senior officer.
But MHA has already dismissed the move, holding Army will not get control over ITBP come what may. One of the seven central armed police forces (CAPF) under MHA, ITBP mans the LAC along the Tibet border with around 17 battalions. And, Army is positioned in ``depth'' for support with some 23 battalions. MHA officials stress ITBP showed alacrity in reporting the 19-km deep intrusion by the Chinese soldiers in Depsang Bulge to all authorities concerned on April 15 itself.
The Army, however, contends there are ``glaring deficiencies'' in the ``deployment and patrolling patterns'' of ITBP, which is also ``not optimally-equipped in weaponry'' and has ``limitations'' in reacting to operational contingencies. ``The trip-wire situation along the LAC can escalate without much transition time...ITBP, which has a police mindset, is not geared for this,'' says another officer.
The MHA stand has been backed by the external affairs ministry in the past with the belief that border management with China is best done by a CAPF during peace-time. ITBP automatically comes under Army's operational control during any conflict.
India's land borders with China, Pakistan, Myanmar, Bangladesh and Nepal totalling 14,880-km all suffer from a similar lack of coordination and synergy among multiple forces manning them. Besides, Army and MHA are also at loggerheads over the latter's move to replace Assam Rifles with BSF along the 1,643-km border with Myanmar.
This when both the Border Management Task Force and the Group of Ministers' report on ``reforming the national security system'' after the 1999 Kargil conflict with Pakistan had stressed the ``One Border-One Force'' principle. ``Multiplicity of forces on the same borders has inevitably led to the lack of accountability as well as problems of command and control,'' held the GoM report.
MHA-Army turf war over ITBP’s control escalates even as Chinese retreat - The Times of India
