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Be ready for a long haul: Malik

Chief of Army Staff Gen V P Malik today asked officers to be ready for a prolonged operation in Kargil and emphasised the need to adopt tactics to fight a war in a difficult mountainous terrain.

The army chief, who was addressing station officers at Chandimandir Cantonment, said the Indian Army must be combatised much more than ever before to thwart any ill designs of the enemy from any quarter.

The surveillance capability of the Indian Army is being strengthened to ward off any untoward incidents in future, he said.

''We have to undo what Pakistan has done to restore national prestige and remain fully prepared to meet any challenges from the enemy,'' he added.

Gen Malik said Pakistan had been defeated both diplomatically and strategically. Things were in India's favour and the momentum would keep gathering.

He said the whole nation was behind the army and the forces should live up to their expectations. He asked the officers not to be carried away by rumours in the media.

The army chief said that after meeting soldiers fighting on the front and the injured under treatment in military hospitals, he had realised that the morale was very high. But there should be no room for complacency and the armed forces should anticipate events and swing into action at once.

He called for taking full care of those fighting on the front, those wounded and the families of those killed in action, and ensure that all benefits reached them. This would boost the morale of the soldiers, he said.

The Kargil Crisis

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