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While the Kargil war is remembered mainly for being India’s first Televised war, it actually was also a war that showed how synergy between the Infantry and the Artillery can be a game changer. The extensive and innovative use of artillery in direct support role for the brave infantry soldiers battling the Pakistani intruders on the jagged, narrow peaks in Dras, Batalik and Mushkoh sectors proved to be a master stroke. Maj Gen Alok Deb (then commanding a field artillery regiment as a Colonel) recalls in this interaction with Editor-in-Chief Nitin A. Gokhale for our series Kargil: Then and now: “All arms and services of the Formation worked together in close cooperation.
In particular, mention must be made of the synergy between infantry and artillery, a noteworthy takeaway from Operation Vijay which was instrumental in achieving success. While joint planning remained the preserve of the higher headquarters, there was almost minute-to-minute coordination at infantry brigade and artillery regiment level and below. Joint reconnaissance by infantry and artillery COs of routes and staging areas, coordination of details such as common names for landmarks, objectives and other targets ensured that no confusion arose at any level, culminating in the production of simple and workable outline fire plans to support attacks.
The battle of Tololing witnessed the ultimate synergy between these two arms, when, on the death of a company commander during the assault, the Observation Post (OP) officer from the direct support field regiment held the company together, pressing home the attack till relieved by the CO of the battalion.” Tune in for more.
Author, thought leader and one of South Asia's leading strategic analysts, Nitin A. Gokhale has forty years of rich and varied experience behind him as a conflict reporter, Editor, author and now a media entrepreneur who owns and curates two important digital platforms, BharatShakti.in and StratNewsGlobal.com focusing on national security, strategic affairs and foreign policy matters.
At the beginning of his long and distinguished career, Gokhale has lived and reported from India’s North-east for 23 years, writing and analysing various insurgencies in the region, been on the ground at Kargil in the summer of 1999 during the India-Pakistan war, and also brought live reports from Sri Lanka’s Eelam War IV between 2006-2009.
Author of over a dozen books on wars, insurgencies and conflicts, Gokhale relocated to Delhi in 2006, was Security and Strategic Affairs Editor at NDTV, a leading Indian broadcaster for nine years, before launching in 2015 his own digital properties.
An alumni of the Asia-Pacific Centre for Security Studies in Hawaii, Gokhale now writes, lectures and analyses security and strategic matters in Indo-Pacific and travels regularly to US, Europe, South and South-East Asia to speak at various international seminars and conferences.
Gokhale also teaches at India’s Defence Services Staff College (DSSC), the three war colleges, India's National Defence College, College of Defence Management and the intelligence schools of both the R&AW and Intelligence Bureau.
He tweets at @nitingokhale
