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'There was intelligence failure certainly'

Director General of Infantry Lieutenant General Shankar Prasad on Thursday said better intelligence could have prevented the Kargil conflict.

"There was [intelligence] failure certainly. Some people could have done a better job," he told mediamen.

He said there were three parts in the intelligence network -- the external intelligence which is the responsibility of the Research and Analysis Wing, the internal intelligence which is the job of the Intelligence Bureau, and the tactical intelligence which concerns the troops in contact.

While 30 to 40 per cent of the responsibility lies with the external intelligence, another 30 to 40 per cent was that of the internal intelligence. Only 20 per cent was the responsibility of the tactical intelligence.

"Each one had shown deficiencies," he said.

As far as tactical intelligence is concerned, he continued, a battalion commander is responsible for five to eight km, a brigade commander for eight to 12 km, a divisional commander for 15 to 20 km, while the corps commander is responsible for the entire area.

''This is the situation in the plains while in mountains the range decreases,'' he said.

General Prasad said to prevent Kargil-like situations, the infantry had to be in a state of combat readiness all the time. It has acquired new equipment from South Africa, Russia and Bulgaria and is in the process of acquiring more as part of its modernisation programme.

The equipment include night vision devices, arms and ammunition, thermal radars, anti-material rifles [which can destroy targets like bunkers from a distance], automatic grenade launchers, flame throwers, and mine resistant vehicles.

He said the Kargil developments held some very important lessons for the armed forces. Modern wars would be infantry-centred whether in the plains or high-altitude areas. Also, the emphasis would be on night fighting.

''Therefore, we have to keep in mind that the infantry has to be combat-ready in all situations and the nature of war as it unfolds,'' he said.

He stressed on quality training, modern equipment and keeping the motivation of the troops high. ''The quality of the future armed forces depends upon the kind of youngsters we recruit. They have to be very tough physically to quickly adapt to any kind of situation. We find there is need to acclimatise the man at a very short notice,'' he said.

UNI

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