Soon after his taking over as Chief of Army Staff, General Deepak Kapoor caused consternation by favouring conscription for the Army. The government had to sternly contradict his stand. The chief of an army as large and responsible as that of India is not expected to shoot his mouth off. But that is what General Deepak Kapoor seems to be doing of late, as reported in the Indian Express. That has caused great embarrassment to the country forcing the government to issue clarifications more than once. In the process, he has ruffled feathers in Nepal, China and Pakistan alike. In Kathmandu, opposition leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal “Prachanda” is going to town over his reported comments on the issue of Maoist cadres joining the Nepalese army, accusing India of “naked interference” in Nepal. India’s Ambassador in Kathmandu Rakesh Sood had to issue a press statement that “we have seen media reports attributing certain remarks to the Indian Chief of Army Staff General Deepak Kapoor on the issue of ‘PLA integration’ in the Nepal Army which are highly distorted and do not reflect Government of India’s position on the issue”.
He had caused similar consternation in Islamabad recently by his comment that “there is a possibility of a limited war under a nuclear overhang”. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh himself had to do some damage control in Washington by stating that “any other statement distorted out of context should not carry the weight when I have stated categorically that Pakistan faces no threat whatsoever from our side”. Despite this, the Army chief later spoke in a similar cavalier fashion that India was revising its war strategy to prepare for a two-front war with China and Pakistan.
The General would do well to leave the domain of policy statements to the political masters while engaging himself in defending the country to the best of his ability. He should have realised by now that his statements are prone to be “misunderstood”. Even now it will not be too late.
He had caused similar consternation in Islamabad recently by his comment that “there is a possibility of a limited war under a nuclear overhang”. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh himself had to do some damage control in Washington by stating that “any other statement distorted out of context should not carry the weight when I have stated categorically that Pakistan faces no threat whatsoever from our side”. Despite this, the Army chief later spoke in a similar cavalier fashion that India was revising its war strategy to prepare for a two-front war with China and Pakistan.
The General would do well to leave the domain of policy statements to the political masters while engaging himself in defending the country to the best of his ability. He should have realised by now that his statements are prone to be “misunderstood”. Even now it will not be too late.
Source: The Tribune, Chandigarh, India.
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