Strike force

The government’s decision to raise a mountain strike corps for the army will address a long-felt weakness in India’s defence preparedness. The proposed mountain corps is mainly for deployment in the north and the north-east and it would strengthen the country’s defensive and offensive capabilities along the 4,000-km disputed border. Of the 12 corps that make up the army now, there are only three strike corps and they are directed at a threat from Pakistan. They are trained for warfare on the plains.

There are two corps and two divisions in the eastern sector but they are defensive formations. The idea behind raising a mountain strike core and deploying it in the north is that the army should be able to move offensively into Tibet from Arunachal Pradesh, in case there are sustained hostilities. China has a strategic advantage in the western sector because of the geography of the area. The expectation is that building offensive capabilities in the east should neutralise that advantage.

Mountain warfare calls for specialised equipment and different training and methods of fighting. Extremely low temperatures, low oxygen content in the air and the nature of the terrain reduce mobility and make military actions difficult. The army had faced these problems during  the Kargil war. The formation of the corps should also be supported by the creation of adequate infrastructure in the border areas. Roads, rail lines, airports and communication facilities have all to be upgraded or created. Some steps have been taken in this direction in the last few years but much more needs to be done. China has made extensive improvement of its infrastructure facilities in Tibet in the last one decade. This needs to be matched by India.

The finance ministry had reservations over allocation of about Rs 65,000 crore for the project and the external affairs ministry  had worries that it might be seen by China as a provocative  step. But these have been overcome and the project is set to be completed in the next seven years. The corps will consist of 48,000 troops and 2000 officers. Building up such troops strength is also a challenge when defence services are losing their attraction. The continuing incursions by Chinese troops into the Indian side of the Line of Actual Control make the case for time-bound completion of the project stronger. It will help to restore the military balance on the border which is now thought to be in China’s favour.