The Pakistan Army deserves to be complimented for the mature manner in which it tackled the straying of an Indian Army helicopter into Pakistan-administered Kashmir at the weekend. Thanks to the cool handling of the incident, a major diplomatic and military stand-off between India and Pakistan was averted.
Instructions to Pakistani officers on the ground would have come from Chief of the Army Staff Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, so the fact that this didn’t escalate is an encouraging sign. But first it’s worth taking a brief look at the chain of events.
On October 23, an Indian Army Cheetah helicopter was forced to land in Pakistan-administered Kashmir (described by India as Pakistan Occupied Kashmir or PoK) after it inadvertently strayed there in the afternoon due to bad weather. The chopper had four personnel on board. An Indian Army spokesman said the incident took place at about 1320 hours, while the aircraft was on a routine administration and maintenance flight.
The helicopter is said to have inadvertently crossed over into PoK in the Gultari Sector due to inclement weather. ‘(After) an early intervention of diplomatic and military channels the matter was resolved amicably, and by late evening helicopter was landed back in Kargil,’ the Indian Army spokesman said.
The resolution followed a tense wait after an Indian External Affairs Ministry spokesman admitted earlier that a helicopter had strayed across the Line of Control and landed there. ‘Efforts are underway to establish contact with Pakistani to retrieve the personnel and helicopter. Our high commission in Islamabad is also in touch with the Pakistani side,’ the spokesman had stated.
Indian government sources said the matter was resolved after the Pakistani Defence Ministry swung into action. The two sides’ directors general of military operations kept in regular touch with each other, and the Pakistani authorities decided to release the helicopter and the crew after completing the verification process. Pakistani military authorities claimed that the Indian helicopter had strayed ‘very deep into the Pakistani territory.’
This incident could herald greater military-to-military understanding between India and Pakistan, two countries that have fought three direct wars and one indirect war in Kargil in 1999. Pakistan could have used the incident to offset the pressure it has been under from the United States in the past few weeks, but chose not to exploit the situation. The fact that Rawalpindi chose not to up the ante should go down well with the Indian military establishment, and the two neighbours need now to take military-to-military ties a step closer.
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EAM
Very encouraging indeed. When you look at the other countries in South Asia, they are all very adept at playing the “India card” or the “China card” as it suits them to maximise their options and do very well out of it. And they can sometimes take both China and India for a ride. For example, Sri Lanka managed to get help from both in ending the civil war there and and uses both as cover successfully to shield itself from the consequences. And hearing what some Sri Lankans Tamils say, it seems that they blame China and India for their situation more than the Sri Lankan government! Pakistan alone in South Asia is unable to have these options and therefore has more limited strategic space with a high dependence on China (and in other times the US). Taking a cold blooded view of Pakistan’s strategic situation, I can see good reasons why they in their longer term might want to widen their options. But I would imagine that this is not going to be easy and will take time.
Bharateeya
A very commendable effort by Pakistan and credit to them for not hyping this up…But the author’s idea of using this as a pretext for greater military cooperation with Pakistan is quite perplexing. This stray/freak incident doesn’t change the threat perception on either sides…
ABose
This is Pakistan’s way of saying “Happy Diwali” !!
Jaskirat
I wouldn’t go as far as to suggest that “This incident could herald greater military-to-military understanding between India and Pakistan”.
I think this was a good strategic call by the Pakistani brass and they came out appearing on the higher moral ground. They are smarter than that. Knowing that this is not the time to escalate tensions on their eastern front.
P.s.: Thanks for using my image
jameel shaheen
We choose our friends and relations but God chooses our neighbors and in the present world scenario the two sides have only one prudent option, LIVE LIKE DECENT NEIGHBORS.
venkat
“Pakistan Army Keeps Cool”
Really?? That is not the typical behavior of the hot head fundamentalist pak army.
I wonder if the real reason is that their relations with US are at the lowest and also the US army has several thousand soldiers at the western border of Pak, ready to barge in kick some butt.
It would be really foolish if India were to believe this as a change in the Pak Army mindset.
Frank
EAM:
Tamils want to break away from India now.
Frank
@Frank
Only in the books and imagination of some Pakistanis and Chinese. For more information about the subject, you must live for some time in India and in Tamil Nadu.
Sandeep
While I do appreciate Pakistan’s handling of the incident, there are reports that Pakistan has downloaded the codes and GPS data of all Indian Army helipads in the eastern sector. So let’s just say they let the guy go cos they found something more important.