SOUTH ASIA: India Pursues Fence Construction in Kashmir

By Ranjit Devraj Reprint | | Print |

Ranjit Devraj

NEW DELHI, Dec 5 2003 (IPS) - Following the ancient adage that good fences make good neighbours, India is making good use of Pakistan’s offer of a ceasefire along the Line of Control (LoC) in disputed Kashmir to hasten the erection of a high electrified fence that it says will ensure the cessation of cross-border infiltration. India’s leaders complain bitterly that the Nov. 26 Eid ceasefire announced by Islamabad and accepted by New Delhi as part of confidence-building measures has been limited to the regular armies of both countries.

This has not stopped the infiltration of armed militants into the Indian side of Kashmir, New Delhi says. ”On our demand that infiltration be stopped and terrorist infrastructure be dismantled, there has been practically no response from the other side," said Deputy Prime Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani on Friday. Advani, who also holds the key interior portfolio and is regarded as a hawk, accused Pakistan of making ”tactical moves to ward off pressures from the international community”. Even before the ceasefire came into operation, India had announced that half of the 742 kilometres had already been fenced and that the whole enterprise snaking across coniferous forests, snow-laden passes and rugged terrain would be completed by June 2004. "We aim to complete fencing the LoC by June next year," Lt Gen Hari Prasad, in charge of the Indian army’s northern command that is based in Kashmir, told visiting journalists on Nov. 21. With the ceasefire holding and the constant barrage of shells and small arms fire put on hold, army officers are confident that the deadline for completion of the fencing will easily be met. The fencing is only part of multi-tiered system that includes mines and troops equipped with ground sensors, thermal imagers and night-vision equipment so that the army’s overall efficiency in interdicting militants has gone up significantly.

Pakistan has, in the past, objected to the fencing on the grounds that ceasefire agreements between the two countries that created the Line of Control and dating back to 1949 barred permanent changes pending a final settlement of the dispute. But the Indian army does not regard the fence as a permanent feature. It has erected the fence well within its territory, even setting it back several kilometres away from the Line of Control at some points though at others it is almost on it. Although the cessation of shelling has stopped, the army and border troops have other impediments to contend with – and these include the harsh winter conditions along the Himalayan terrain that prevail until March. And then there is the cost. Building one kilometre of steel posts set into concrete blocks and strung up with concertina wire fencing costs an average 75,000 U.S. dollars. By the time the project is completed, it would have set the army back by about 2.5 billion dollars. Maintaining troops equipped with high-tech equipment along the entire Line of Control that is poorly connected to the hinterland by roads would mean additional costs that is not revealed by the army. But ever since the 1998 war at Kargil on the Line of Control, in which India brought in fighter planes to dislodge militants backed by the Pakistan army from mountain tops well within Indian territory, the defence establishment has been determined to put up the fence regardless of the cost. After Pakistan-based militants tried to storm the Indian Parliament in December 2001, the two nuclear-armed countries massed close to a million troops along their common border in a dangerous confrontation that was defused only by high-level international diplomacy. The 2001 attack resulted in the two countries banning civilian overflights, the suspension of rail links and the downgrading of diplomatic missions in each other’s capitals to the level of deputy high commissions. After almost two years, the two countries are now ready to restore full staffing levels at their diplomatic missions. The ban on overflights is set to be lifted from New Year’s Day 2004 as part of initiatives aimed at improving people-to-people contacts and confidence building. One distinct possibility is the restoration of rail links between Pakistan’s Sindh province and India’s western Rajasthan state, severed following the 1965 war – one of several fought over possession of Kashmir since the two countries were partitioned on religious grounds in 1947. The lifting of the overflight ban would help ordinary Indians and Pakistanis travel by air to each other’s countries directly rather than resort to circuitous routes such as those via Dubai. Immediately, it would enable Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to fly directly to Islamabad to attend the seven-nation South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit starting on Jan. 4.

India has ruled out bilateral talks at the summit and said that any talks on Kashmir would have to preceded by a complete cessation of militant activity it says is still coming from across the Line of Control.