‘9/11 Derailed Army Plan To Capture Pakistani Posts Along Loc'

New book quotes former commanders on ‘Operation Kabaddi,’ aimed at preventing cross­border infiltration, in the post­Kargil scenario

Had it not been for the 9/11 terror attacks, the Indian Army may have carried out its largest operation to end infiltration by capturing at least 25 selected Pakistani posts along the Line of Control (LoC) in September 2001, two former senior commanders have revealed in a new book.

The operation, dubbed `Operation Kabaddi; would have been on a scale far larger than the "land-grab" attempted by Pakistan, which led to the Kargil war in 1999, as well as the surgical strikes launched by India in 2016, says the book, Line on Fire: Ceasefire Violations and India-Pakistan Escalation Dynamics.

"The objective [of Operation Kabaddi] was to change the geography of the LoC with access to tactical points there, which would then help them [the Army] tackle the infiltration of militants by the Pakistani side," the author of the book and Jawaharlal Nehru University Professor Happymon Jacob told The Hindu.

Meeting with COAS

Quoting two officers involved in the planning of the operation - Lt. Gen. Rustom K. Nanavatty, (Northern Army Commander, 2001-2003), and Lt. Gen. H.S. Pa-nag, General Officer Com-manding-in-Chief (GOC in C) of the Army's Northern Command and Central Command 2006-2008) - the book says operational details were discussed at a June 2001 meeting held at the office of the Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) in New Delhi.