NEW DELHI: Army chief General Dalbir Singh’s message on his first day in office to the troopers along the 778-km Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir facing Pakistan was aggressive and to the point. The befitting warning came from the fit Army Chief, who became a soldier in his heart even before he could don the military uniform.
About five years ago, when he was a Major General, he showed his juniors his mettle. Commanding a Mountain Division in the high altitude areas of Kargil and Drass in Jammu and Kashmir, which had seen a bloody war in 1999, then Major General Dalbir Singh - who was all of 55 then -was walking up a hillock along the LoC in Kargil sector to reach the troopers posted at a remote bunker.
When he completed the 20-minute walk uphill, and turned to talk to the local Battalion Commander, he realised that he had climbed the hill much faster than his juniors. They had been left far behind. It sums up the physical abilities of the now General,59, who maintains his lean, muscular frame at six-feet and stands tall among his peers in the 11.3-lakh-strong Army.
His warning to Pakistan Army on a beheading-like incident was terse and tough. If Pakistan Army ever dares to touch an Indian soldier, as they did when the UPA was still in place in January 2013 and again in August last year, the response will be not just adequate, but “more than adequate.” It will be “intense and immediately.”
The General draws his confidence to send across this hard message across the border from a government in New Delhi that enjoys a Parliamentary majority and is perceived to be one that can take hard decisions when needed.
Coming from a family of soldiers, General Dalbir Singh’s mindset is soldierly.
That is why he has put behind the controversies that surrounded his elevation as the Army chief, caused by the decision of the previous UPA Government that came just three days ahead of the Lok Sabha election results.
Fortunately for him, the BJP Government and in particular Defence Minister Arun Jaitley has made it clear that the party had raised the issue during the polls to highlight the legitimacy of the then UPA Government, which was clearly on its way out.