PM picks Army chief who will accept Siachen pact

[third eye]

Wonder if this is true or is it an article to pre empt such a move ?

PM picks Army chief who will accept Siachen pact


Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has put in place the full set of officials who will to support his desire to settle the Siachen dispute with Pakistan in a "Big Bang" visit across the border in a few months. The other dispute on the brink of resolution is Sir Creek. While the two nations have found a solution to Sir Creek, Siachen remains a problem because Indian Army chiefs starting from General A.S. Vaidya and continuing to General V.K. Singh have refused to support what they perceive will be a major concession to Pakistan, as it is India which will have to withdraw.

India occupied the disputed Siachen heights in 1984. Since then Pakistan has been trying to push India back through military force, and has failed. During the last five years, Pakistan has decided that what it could not win by war it can achieve through diplomacy as long as Dr Singh is PM. The Pakistan Army also sees the wisdom of forcing India back from its present line without the cost of conflict. Lt. Gen. Bikram Singh, the new Army chief, is expected to lead the reversal of the Army's position in order to help Dr Singh achieve his dream of leaving a "peace mark" on Indo-Pak relations.

Other key officials such as Principal Secretary Pulok Chatterjee and Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai are already on board, and willing. The PM also has the support of Home Minister P. Chidambaram. Defence Minister A.K. Antony is the only holdout, but could be pacified if Sonia Gandhi agrees to support Dr Singh on his Pak initiative.

Siachen remains a problem because Indian Army chiefs have refused to support what they perceive will be a major concession to Pakistan, as it is India which will have to withdraw.

Since his assumption of office in 2004, "Manmohan Siqungh has looked towards a Pakistan settlement as one of the two cornerstones of his international legacy, the other being a close relationship with the United States," an official privy to the PM's thinking disclosed, adding that "he knows that time is running out for him, and that by next year, the country will be in election mode, so that bold initiatives would come afoul of politics". Those close to the PM hope that the BJP would support the PM's initiative and "follow the Vajpayee line, especially when L.K. Advani and Arun Jaitley are themselves in favour of a peace settlement with Pakistan, with only M.M. Joshi the odd man out".

The demilitarisation of Siachen on the basis of ironclad legal commitments by Pakistan, concurrent with an agreed settlement of the Sir Creek issue, is at the core of the PM's peace strategy, according to officials. They claim that the PM is in favour of "both a Siachen as well as a Sir Creek agreement", and that "these are doable in 2012 itself".

Teams of officials have been put to work on the contours of a possible settlement of these issues in advance of Manmohan Singh's suggested visit to Pakistan late this year. Interestingly, these officials say that "incoming Chief of Army Staff General-designate Bikramjit Singh is expected to take a holistic view of the situation" rather than "the narrow tactical view of some of his predecessors". It is pointed out that the incoming COAS is a protégé of former COAS General V.P. Malik, "who was fully on board Prime Minister Vajpayee's Lahore peace strategy". On Kashmir itself, "the Prime Minister favours soft borders" that would "provide easy access to Kashmiris from each side to the other". He is also "backing Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah's push for allowing reformed militants to return from their Pakistan Occupied Kashmir camps to their homes in the Kashmir valley," a strategy that "has the consent of Home Minister Chidambaram".

Sceptics, however, point out that retaining the Siachen base is important in the context of the China-Pakistan axis, a point that is disputed by the "peace" camp. An official's response was, "If Siachen were truly of military use in dealing with China, would the US be as insistent as it is in asking India to withdraw from the glacier? After all, the US' focus is on China." He claimed that "the international benefits of a withdrawal from Siachen would be immense, in that India would be shown to be willing to walk the extra mile for peace". This, he said, "would put the onus of reciprocity on the Pakistan Army, in a situation where its Kargil betrayal of 1999 proved to be short-sighted". Pakistan COAS Ashfaq Parvez Kayani has gone public in favour of a Siachen settlement based on demilitarisation of the glacier.

Other steps would include easier grant of visas, cultural and educational agreements and more business to business interaction between India and Pakistan. The PM's expectation is that "a multiplication of positive linkages, in business, media, sports, tourism and culture would create constituencies for peace that cannot be ignored", according to a senior official conversant with Dr Singh's peace strategy.

The expectation in Delhi is that a peace settlement between India and Pakistan would strengthen the civilian leadership vis-à-vis the military, thereby promoting a "culture of peace" in Pakistan. In the weeks ahead, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will be devoting increasing attention towards fulfilling his "legacy of peace" with Pakistan, with his proposed Pakistan visit as the "crowning glory" of his legacy, said an official.

 

[Fazlu]

Won't happen. Indian policies are largely determined by Indian public sentiment. Not to mention, there are hawks along every step of the way to act as whistle blowers and raise a riot , should our current administration attempt to make any concessions. These initiatives usually tend to fall out even before they are set in motion.

For example, consider this article. Its much too presumptuous and much too early.

 

[Ignited Mind]

Army Chief is not alone on this. The opinion of other senior commanders matters too as does that of the chiefs of Air Force and Navy.

Anyways, the Congress is far too weakened to indulge in any adventurism now. All it would take would be a BJP or a Mamata Di or even a Modi to scuttle any such move.

With elections approaching in Maharashtra and Gujarat and next year in Delhi, and keeping in mind the drubbing the congress received in recent state polls, I don't think the Congress will take any chances now.

 

[Tshering22]

Manmohan Siqungh has looked towards a Pakistan settlement as one of the two cornerstones of his international legacy, the other being a close relationship with the United States,

This idiot is going to weaken our country. Get rid of this loser and his Owner ASAP. Our soldiers didn't die for nothing to retain our territory.

Fcuk Congress, her allies and her supporters. Comes from a soldiers' family.

 

[ayesha.a]

Utter BS. The army chief is not picked at will by the PM. Bikram Singh would have been army chief, whether MMS liked it or not. He is appointed by seniority alone.

And what makes the author think Bikram Singh is likely to want to withdraw from Siachen? Has he made any statement to that effect, ever? This article reeks of conspiracy-theorism.

 

[Archie]

Here's the thing , its not what the PM wants , but what the public wants

Their is going to be no pullout unless Their is positive public opinion in this regards
Also I am pretty sure that BJP will take congress to the cleaners if it happens not to mention Congress will loose in Delhi , Maharashtra state elections and NaMo will be made PM candidate by BJP for 2014 National elections

 

[Sashan]

We do not want another I.K.Gujral. Peace with Pakistan will not be achieved without settling Kashmir. These are half-measures if Siachen pact is signed. India would sign the pact with the civilian govt. of Pakistan and then later Musharraf like general would have occupied the Siachen at which point, India will throw in 1000s of soldiers to death to get back Siachen and we would not be second time lucky like we got back Kargil.

Won't happen. Indian policies are largely determined by Indian public sentiment. Not to mention, there are hawks along every step of the way to act as whistle blowers and raise a riot , should our current administration attempt to make any concessions. These initiatives usually tend to fall out even before they are set in motion.

For example, consider this article. Its much too presumptuous and much too early.

Maybe when it affects the common man directly like food prices. Otherwise it does not matter. Example - our current President Pratibha Patel's election. Forget about support for her, most of the Indians haven't heard about her when she was elected. Most of them wanted Abdul Kalam to be elected but did the political parties take that into consideration?

 

[Che Guevara]

pagal ho gayi hay ya government maranga ya ***** ka pilla buri mout

 

[COLDHEARTED AVIATOR]

Yeah go for it.Pakistan is a very reliable nation as was proven in 99.They can surely be trusted and with the news of PLA presence in Pakistani Kashmir there is almost no chance that the 2 peace loving nations would try to take advantage of the situation.

We have sacrificed our soldiers to gain the advantageous position we are in now.Our Infantry soldiers have fought against the enemy special forces to gain this position and now we want to let it gur 100+ soldiers havent died in Siachen then why should we care?

 

[ziaulislam]

what foolish thing for India to occupy a cold desert. it should be left as it was before 1984.
Pakistan are not trying to push India out. they are simply trying to stop them from using the peaks to get into northern areas.

 

[Laughing_soldier]

Indian Army chiefs starting from General A.S. Vaidya and continuing to General V.K. Singh have refused to support what they perceive will be a major concession to Pakistan, as it is India which will have to withdraw.

if MMS tries to do anything harmful to India the congress party will be in great trouble. they will be thrown out from power forever.

 

[karan.1970]

UPA is no state to drive a decision so controversial in nature.. The opposition will eat them alive..

 

[harpoon]

if MMS tries to do anything harmful to India the congress party will be in great trouble. they will be thrown out from power forever.

True..the days of the Congress Raj is over..one of the benefits of Coalition Politics.

what foolish thing for India to occupy a cold desert. it should be left as it was before 1984.
Pakistan are not trying to push India out. they are simply trying to stop them from using the peaks to get into northern areas.

If India didn't , Pakistan surely could have done the same. The operation was planned after, RAW got credible information that Pakistan is going for an assault.

 

[Hobo1]

MMS wants nobel, congress wants to vote of Indian Sunnis who hardly care about the terroroisim emaniting from Pak. Present Army chief if bites the bait can get very very plum posting after retirement.
Pakistanis are scared of Indian soldiers gaurding our border who have never killed any Pak civilain or crossed India-Pak border. But Pakistanis or western world just don't care about India's anguish owing Pak terrorist roaming freely in Pak and regularly attacking India.