'Professional Armies Don't Do This': Indian Commanders on Pak Tactics

Jammu: Around midnight, on the Line of Control, it is jawans in their 20s who are leading the patrol.

They are in the midst of an unusually long shift, but it's not tough to stay alert. Shelling from across the border has been steady in the last few hours, and the danger of terrorists sneaking in has been reinforced by recent attacks in Punjab and on a major highway in Jammu, which ended with Pakistani Naveed being caught.   

He is being extensively interrogated in Delhi, but here, on a visit to a forward post along the Line of Control, we are requested not to mention the names or ranks of the officers interviewed, or give details of our location - this is unusual for the Indian Army, a stark measure of the degree to which a decade-old ceasefire has been enervated.
 We witnessed sporadic  firing from Pakistan overnight, but soldiers say the last few days have presented a pattern - firing  starts early afternoon, and continues till late at night.

On Saturday, six civilians including a young girl were killed in a village on the border. Army officials authorized to speak to us say Pakistan is exhibiting its determination to target well-populated areas.

"On the 15th of August, they did fire onto our civilians wherein only the civilians died. So, that brings us to the conclusion that they had targeted us in civilian areas. We consider it highly unethical, improper, immoral and an unprofessional act.  Professional armies don't do this," said Lt General RR Nimbhorkar, Commander of the 16 Corps.  

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He also said that the Pakistani army has in recent weeks considerably upgraded the caliber of weapons it's using  against India - its 120 mm heavy mortar shells are packed with more explosives and can land much farther. "Any air burst [of a mortar shell] over any area is very devastating because it has got a lot of potential to cause a lot of damage because of the splinters that it throws. When it lands on the grounds, the splinters go all around. Therefore, anyone in the area ,when it bursts, will get hit," the General said to NDTV.

For soldiers on the ground, there is no time, not a second, to let down their guard. At the forward post we visited, a young officer told us, "We are on alert 24x7 because the enemy activity is 24x7. He doesn't rest, nor does he allow us to keep our guard down... We take into consideration three key factors -  infiltration, mortar shelling and sniping action by the enemy - and accordingly, we manage our defenses and our activities."Keeping up the morale of the men on patrol has become a collective effort. "This is a place where there is no telecommunication available, and so we are a family amongst ourselves," the young officer told NDTV.   

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In Poonch in the Jammu region, just a short distance away from the Line of Control, distraught Mohammad Sharief showed us the damage caused to his house by intense Pakistani fire over several days. He was lucky to survive after a splinter hit him and injured his right arm. Today, the 25-year-old is homeless as live shells are still inside his home and outside in his maize fields.

Next week, the National Security Advisers of India and Pakistan are to meet in Delhi with an agenda that includes finding ways to urgently dial down the tension in areas like this.

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But with the committed firing from across the border, Indian officials say the central question of Pakistan remains this - are its government and its army at cross-purposes as talks resume.