India deploys Prithvis (missiles) to counter Pakistan

Intelligence Online ^ | May 28th 2002

[maquiladora]

28 May 2002: The missile unit of Indian Army’s 333 regiment has deployed 40 missile batteries all along the Indian border with Pakistan, top officials said.

The missiles include surface-to-surface Prithvis and surface-to-air Igla-2s and Trishuls.

Scientists of the Defence Research and Development Organisation are closely interacting with the Indian Army to deploy these missiles.

Officials said that 11 missile units had been deployed in the Rajasthan and Punjab sector and the rest on the Line of Control and international border in Jammu and Kashmir.

Defence ministry officials did not rule out deployment of the long-range nuclear-capable Agni missiles in a day or two since tensions between India and Pakistan have resurfaced.

Indian missile deployments are a direct result of Pakistani dictator General Pervez Musharraf’s speech yesterday that did not appreciably address Indian concerns about Pakistani cross-border terrorism.

The official Indian viewpoint is that yesterday’s speech is no different from General Musharraf’s 12-January speech against terrorism.

Indian missile deployments are also seen as a counter to Pakistani missile testings in the last three days.

Pakistan fired a medium-range Ghauri or Hatf-V missile on Saturday, 25 May, a 290-kilometre Hatf-III or Ghaznavi missile on Sunday, and a 180-kilometre Hatf-II or Abdali missile today.

Analysts say that the Pakistani missile testings are meant to deter India from attacking Pakistan while others say that hawks in the Pakistan army have taken over military decision-making.

The United States has condemned Pakistan’s missile testings while urging restraint on India.

[Jethro Tull]

If India gets nuked, who is going to operate the Slurpie machines at the 7-11's?

[cake_crumb]

"If India gets nuked"

Hopefully, it won't come to nukes. If it DOES go that far, I'd rather see India nuke Pakistan. Aren't most of the terrorists murdering people by the hundreds in Kashmir Pakistanis? On the other hand, India has kicked Pakistan's a$$ before, using only conventional weapons.

[swarthyguy]

Now things are getting serious; deployment of tactical missiles on the frontline - in the flatlands of punjab and rajasthan.

[cake_crumb]

"Analysts say that the Pakistani missile testings are meant to deter India from attacking Pakistan while others say that hawks in the Pakistan army have taken over military decision-making."

Err, I think it's both of the above, plus the Pakistan government is doing it's best to show the proper testosterone levels to the people. Otherwise, the people will off Musharraf in a military coup and stick some scion of psychotic Islam in his place.

[mhking]

Well, now that they both have guns pointed at each other's heads and their fingers on the trigger, who blinks first, and when? (i.e., how much time have we got before the balloon goes up?)

[Frohickey]

Well, now that they both have guns pointed at each other's heads and their fingers on the trigger, who blinks first, and when? (i.e., how much time have we got before the balloon goes up?)

I think that we should start a pool for say, $100 a guess for the one that correctly guesses when and who starts shooting first. Of course, Indian and Pakistani nationals would not be allowed to participate in the pool. ;)

[Fish out of Water]

The India-Pakistani Conflict... some background information-

*Index Bump

[RightWhale]

how much time have we got before the balloon goes up?

Picked up another can of Spam for the Y2K cache today. It's the most meaningful thing a person can do in this circumstance.

[Aaron_A]

Here is some more info on this missile...

http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/india/missile/prithvi.htm

http://milpics.web1000.com/Missiles/img_India_Prithvi.html

[tcostell]

I can't help but think that there is some chess player in a State department basement somewhere who thinks that an India - Pakistan nuclear war is a good thing. He's probably thinking that if the Arab world would just find someone to hate more than the West, then the Saudi's could use the wahabi infrastructure to point at the greater evil of multi-theism.

If it's really a clash of cultures, maybe this is a way for us to get out without a direct conflict between Islam and the West.