A few things regarding your cover story on Siachen (A Glacial Intent, Feb 18). A.B. Vajpayee was the head of a ‘caretaker’ NDA government at the time, which was responsible for a totally unnecessary Pokhran-II, evoking six nuclear blasts in retaliation. The subsequent bus ride to Lahore was a total eyewash—it didn’t stop the intrusion in Kargil a few months on. You could also have mentioned the plum gubernatorial and diplomatic assignments General V.P. Mehta later cornered to put things in perspective.
Ashoke P. Mahtani, Calcutta
In 1948, when Pakistan attacked Kashmir, they said it wasn’t army regulars but Razakars; they repeated the bogey in 1965 with the mujahideen. In retaliation, when India opened the Lahore front, Pakistan claimed it was Indian aggression. Pakistan’s logic is simple: any incursion along the LoC is not a violation since it is not an internationally recognised border. In view of this, there is no way India can trust Pakistan on the Siachen issue.
Abbas Rumani, Kuwait
Very brave of Lt Gen (retd) Shahid Aziz to admit that Kargil was a debacle.
R. V. Subramanian, Gurgaon
The designation accompanying the mug and name of Gen S. Roychowdhury said “former cabinet secretary”. Since when have army officers started occupying the post of the seniormost civil servant?
Maj Gen (retd?) V.K. Singh, Gurgaon
