Pak no threat, says Manekshaw

Indian Field Marshal S H F J Manekshaw on Monday ruled out any military threat from Pakistan, saying it was too small in all respects to take on India.

In an informal chat with media persons in Rajkot's Rajkumar College central hall, Manekshaw, popularly known as "Sam saheb", said that against the 150 million population of Pakistan, India has 960 million people with a strong army and national spirit. The spirit was put to the test in the 1971 Indo-Pak war which ended with 93,000 prisoners of war from the Pakistan army and division of that country.

Replying to a question on Pakistan's support for militancy in Kashmir, Manekshaw said everybody knew Pakistan could not afford a state war with India by sending its own soldiers to Kashmir.

Reacting to suggestions that Pakistan-occupied Kashmir should be handed back to Pakistan to end the Kashmir issue, Manekshaw said no one, however big, could take such a decision as it would be unacceptable to the people of both countries. He said it was difficult to predict anything on the settlement of the Kashmir issue, though prime ministers of both countries were from Punjab and had started rethinking the relationship between the two nations.

"Who knew a decade back about the unification of East and West Germany and breaking up of the USSR," Manekshaw asked.

Quizzed about India's nuclear option, Manekshaw felt it made no difference whether India keeps nuclear weapons or not since they would never be used against Pakistan.

According to him, what is actually required is that both the countries should work towards reducing the military expenditure as people of the both the countries require funds for their socio-economic development and basic needs.

He said he knew nothing about the standards of present politicians since he knew none of them except Prime Minister I K Gujral whom he described as a very good person.

Manekshaw felt there was little chance of corruption in the army, adding that if some existed it was negligible compared to the other services. He said the standards and the morale of the Indian army were among the best.

He pointed out the low salaries in the armed forces, recalling that he drew only Rs 4,500 per month as army general. He said though things have improved a great deal, a general still does not earn as much as even a director of a public limited company who draws about Rs 100,000 per month.