There has been a rise in incidents of military equipment from Afghanistan being seized in Kashmir, Indian Army Chief General MM Naravane has said, amid fears of a spillover of fighters into India as the Taliban returned to power in the war-torn country.  He was quoted as saying that though there has been no spillover of manpower “so far...... there is definitely a movement in that direction”. 

“When the previous Taliban regime was there in Afghanistan in the early 2000s, we did have a little spillover. We had captured or killed Afghan terrorists (in Kashmir) also,” Gen Naravane said during the Raisina Dialogue in New Delhi attended a number of foreign ministers, particularly from Europe, and former government leaders, according to The Indian Express. 

“There is definitely an increase in the number of weapons and other equipment, especially night-vision devices that we are capturing or unearthing, which definitely have come from Afghanistan,” Gen Naravane said. “That is a major cause of concern.”

Responding to a question on ongoing war in Ukraine, Gen Naravane said it has forced a rethink of certain military assumptions.

“First assumption was that the conventional wars are passe,” he said, adding it had also been thought previously that economically dependent countries do not go to war.

On another ‘assumption’ that all wars now will be of short duration and will stop when the international community intervenes, he said: “We are already in the third month (of Ukraine war).”

The fundamental point, the Indian Army chief said, is wars and conflict “will happen”.

The current geopolitical situation necessitates the Indian Air Force to prepare for intense and small duration operations at a short notice, Indian Air Force chief, Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari was quoted as saying. He also said that there would be a need for the force to prepare for "short, swift wars" and be ready for "long-drawn standoff" akin to what has been seen in eastern Ladakh, where massed Indian and Chinese armed have been in a two-year-long standoff across their disputed border. 

"The current geopolitical situation necessitates the Indian Air Force to prepare for intense and small duration operations at a short notice. This new paradigm of high-intensity operations coupled with minimal build-up time would require major changes in terms of operational logistics," he said.

(SAM)