DEFENCE MINISTRY CLEARS NEW CORPS ON CHINA BORDER
[The idea of a strike corps was first mooted in 2010, but
was sent for a re look]
After much back and forth, the Defence
Ministry has cleared the setting up of a mountain strike
corps along the Chinese border, signalling its intent to press
ahead with plans to strengthen offensive military
capabilities despite recent calls from Beijing for a `new type of
military relationship'.
The plan involves fresh accretion of close to
89,000 soldiers and 400 officers. As per sources the
focus is to be able to launch a counter-offensive into Tibet
in case of a `Kargil-type adventure' by China. The proposal was first mooted in 2010 and given an in-principle go ahead. by the Cabinet Committee on security a year later, but was sent back last year with instructions for a re-look by all three services so that a
common plan could be drawn up.
It took the Chiefs of Staff Committee another
six months to review the plan, which was also
essential because the Army Chiefs had changed since the
proposal was first moved.
According to sources, the proposal has now
been reworked with some minor changes relating to
additional Air Force elements. The projected amount too
has gone up marginally from the earlier estimate of
about T 65,000 crore.
The new strike corps is expected to come up in
Panagarh, West Bengal, along with two more
divisions.
An independent armoured brigade may be part of
the set-
up. Already two divisions are being raised in
the eastern
theatre.
However, the road ahead will still be
difficult, particularly given the strain on the Finance
Ministry at this point. While this is not going to be a
one-time expenditure, it does fly in the face of North
Block's efforts to effect expenditure cuts to contain the
growing fiscal deficit. In its last version too, the proposal had
faced some tough questions from the Finance Ministry,
including a
searching query on how long South Block
expected the China threat to last.
As of now, China has made some very
conciliatory noises, particularly during the recent visit
of Defence Secretary Shashikant Sharma.
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