As the guns fall silent in Kargil, New Delhi is preparing for the awesome and expensive task of permanently manning the previously unguarded and desolate mountainous frontier. More than two divisions (nearly 40,000 troops) based in Kashmir's summer capital Srinagar have been diverted to the frontier, leaving a vacuum which is weakly filled by some 20 paramilitary battalions inexperienced in dealing with the insurgency in Kashmir.
Since 1972, when the ceasefire line between India and Pakistan became the line of control (LoC) after their third war, the Indian army has been manning observation posts in the Kargil area for around four months after the snows melt in June. Patrols used to be sent out along the craggy ridges, but these were infrequent since the army was confident that the pact between the two enemies and the geography itself were a guarantee against any intrusions.
That has now changed. The 140-km-long line of control (LoC) in the Kargil region now needs constant supervision. The resources of India's 1.2 million-strong army will now be stretched not only in terms of manpower but also financially, says a senior military officer involved in the re-organisation.
And unless the deployment of counter-insurgency (CI) forces gets an entirely new "doctrinal approach", the officer says the army's resources and resilience would be weakened. Two-thirds of the length of India's land border are mountainous, but with a detente holding out with China for years and no real trouble along the LoC since 1972, there had been a winding down of the army's focus on mountain fighting, other than on Siachen.