The Indian Army is the largest branch of the Armed Forces of India and has the primary responsibility of conducting land based military operations. The Indian Army maintains the second largest active military force in the world. The Indian Army has a total troop strength of around 3.8 million. It is a completely voluntary service the military draft never having been imposed in India. The army has rich battling experience in diverse geographical areas, considering India`s diversity on this front, and also has a distinguished history of serving in United Nations peacekeeping operations. The force is headed by the Chief of Army Staff, currently General J.J. Singh. The highest rank in the Indian Army is Field Marshal, but it is an honorary rank and appointments are made by the President of India on the advice of the Union Cabinet of Ministers only in exceptional circumstances.

History of Indian Army

The First Kashmir War
Almost immediately after independence, tensions between India and Pakistan began to boil over. The first of the three wars fought between India and Pak broke out over the then princely state of Kashmir. As Maharaja Harisingh of Kashmir was not willing to sign a treaty either with India or Pakistan, because of this an impatient Pakistan sponsored a `tribal` invasion of parts of Kashmir. Soon after, Pakistan sent in its troops to capture Kashmir. Maharaja, Hari Singh, appealed to India, and to Lord Mountbatten the Governor General for help, but it was pointed out to him that India saw no reason to do so. He signed the Instrument of Accession ( agreement ) and Kashmir unilaterally merged with India a decision approved by Britain but never accepted by Pakistan. Immediately after this, Indian troops were airlifted into Srinagar and, in a famous operation, the Indian soldiers had driven back the invaders. An intense war engaged across the state and former comrades found themselves fighting each other. Both India and Pakistan made some territorial gains and also suffered significant losses. One-third part of Kashmir has been captured by the Pakistani troops. Today it is known as Azad-Kashmir. An apprehansive UN sponsored peace returned by the end of 1948 with Indian and Pakistani soldiers facing each other directly on the Line of Control, which has since divided Indian from Pakistani held Kashmir. Tensions between India and Pakistan, largely over Kashmir, have never since been totally solved.

Goa, Daman and Diu Operation (1961)
Even after India got Independence in 1947 from the the British and French Goa, Daman and Diu remained under Portuguese control. In 1961, after repeated Portuguese refusals to negotiate towards leaving, the government of India ordered a small group of trusted military troops to evacuate the Portuguese territories and secure them. It was called Goa Operation, 1961. As the Portuguese soldiers were unable to bear the assault, Portugal signed a treaty with India and restrained its control over the small territories, which formally became part of the Indian Union.

The Indo-China Conflict- 1962
Since 1959 Indian Police posts had been pushed forward into territory claimed by the Chinese Government. There were small scale clashes between India and China, but war broke out as India insisted the border ran along the "traditional" watershed, in effect the McMahon Line, which China disputed. In 1962 Indian soldiers were ordered to move to the Thagla Plain near the border between Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh, which formed part of the watershed, but was some three miles to the north of the McMahon line. When New Delhi discovered that the Chinese government had constructed a road through Aksai Chin which India claimed, tensions arose between India and China. In September 1962 Chinese troops made a surprising attack on the Indian soldiers from the plains. On October 12, Nehru gave orders for the Chinese to be evacuated from Aksai Chin. On October 20, Chinese soldiers attacked India in both the North-West and North-East parts of the border, entering the disputed Aksai Chin region along with Arunachal Pradesh in numbers. China then called on the Indian government for negotiation.

As there was no peaceful agreement or settlement between the two counties, China unilaterally withdrew their troops from the territory they had occupied. The reasons for the withdrawal are disputed as India claims logistical problems and diplomatic support from the US and China states that it was returning to the borders that it had diplomatically claimed. The dividing line between the Indian and Chinese forces was positioned the Line of Actual Control. A review committee was soon set up by the Indian government to determine the causes for India`s defeat. The report apparently showed faults much of India`s armed forces command and especially the executive government for failures on several fronts. The Ministry of Defence at the time of the war was headed by the then defence minister Krishna Menon.

Indo-Pakistani War of 1965
Pakistani dictator General Ayub Khan launched Operation Gibraltar in August 1965, believing that Indian leadership would still be recovering from the 1962 war with China and would be unable to deal effectively with such a military force. It proved to be a serious miscalculation for Ayub, who had also shown intelligence reports claiming that the people of Kashmir would also support the Pakistani war effort. But the General was again proved wrong as no such rebellion took place and India responded almost immediately with armoured regiments being organised for both countering enemy entrance and throwing them across the border. Initially, the Indian Army met with considerable success in the northern sector. After launching extended artillery barrages against Pakistan, India was able to capture three important mountain positions in Kashmir. However, by the end of the month Pakistan had made progress in areas such as Tithwal, Uri and Punch and India had lost considerable number of troops and tanks having captured the Haji Pir Pass eight kilometers inside Pakistani territory. Pakistan launched Operation Grand Slam on September 1, invading the Chamb-Jaurian sector. In retaliation, the Indian Army`s 15th Infantry Division crossed the International Border on the Western Front on September 6. The war proved to be a deadlock( draw ) and the ceasefire on September 23 was followed by talks in Tashkent (brokered by the Soviet Union), where Indian Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri and Ayub Khan agreed to withdraw to virtually all pre-war positions.

Bangladesh Liberation War-1971
Lt. Gen A. A. K. Niazi had signed the instrument of surrender on December 16, surrendering his forces to Lt. Gen Jagjit Singh Aurora.In 1971, rebellion broke out in East Pakistan, and India was forced to interfere as an estimated 10 million Bangladeshi refugees fled to India. Unlike the 1965 war, this time decisive change was effected. East Pakistan broke away with Indian intervention and became the independent state of Bangladesh. This was of great help to India, since it no longer had to worry about a two-front war and could concentrate its armed firepower against West Pakistan and the PRC. Under the command of Lt General J.S Aurora, the Indian army achieved a decisive victory over Pakistan in 1971, taking over 90,000 prisoners of war in the Bangladesh liberation war. Even on the western front, the Indian Army was successful in blocking Pakistan`s invasion attempts and counter attacked by capturing more than 2,000 sq. miles of Pakistan held territory.

After Indo Pak War of 1971, tensions between India and Pakistan calmed, periodically threatening to break out into full-scale war, most notably in 1999 and 2002 in recent years. The 1998 tests of Indian and Pakistani nuclear weapons are seen by many commentators as acting as a restraining influence on both sides.

Counter-insurgency activities
The Indian Army has played a crucial role in the past in fighting insurgents and terrorists in the nation. The army launched Operation Bluestar and Operation Woodrose in the 1980s to fight against Sikh rebellions. The army, along with Indian Paramilitary Forces, has the prime responsibility of maintaining law and order in the troubled Jammu and Kashmir region.

The Kargil Operation in 1999
In mid 1999, Kashmiri rebellions and Pakistan military personnel took control of some deserted, but strategic, Himalayan heights in Indian administered Kashmir. These had either been vacated by the Indian army during the onset of bad weather conditions, or not occupied on the presumption that it would bemadness, for pakistan, to risk men in such a manner. The `Mujahideen` with the help of Pakistani army took control of several key areas such as the heights overlooking the vital Srinagar Leh highway, Batalik, Dras and the strategic Tiger Hill.

Meanwhile, the Indian Navy also readied itself for an attempted blockade of Pakistani ports to cut off supply routes. Later, then the Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif disclosed that Pakistan was left with just six days of fuel to sustain itself if a full-fledged war had broken out. Many believed that Pakistan would employ a nuclear strike. President Clinton asked for "a full and complete withdrawal without pre-conditions" from Kargil and also warned him that "there could be no quid pro quo, no hint that America was rewarding Pakistan for its aggression, nor for threatening its nuclear power at India. Finding Pakistan isolated internationally Nawaz Sharif requested US President Bill Clinton to stop the Indian counter attack. Washington wanted Pakistan to admit its violation of law and withdraw behind the LoC.

Two months into the conflict, Indian troops had slowly regained virtually all lost territories, but at a very heavy price. However, it is believed that much heavier damages were inflicted on Pakistani`s army, particulary its Northern light infantry. Following the Washington accord on July 4, where Sharif agreed to withdraw the Pakistan backed troops, most of the fighting came to a gradual halt. However, some of the militants still did not wish to retreat, and the United Jihad Council head for fifteen jihadi groups operating in Kashmir rejected Nawaz Sharif`s plan for stopping the war, instead of deciding to fight on. Following this, the Indian army launched its final attacks in the last week of July as soon as the last of these "Jihadists" in the Drass subsector had been cleared, the fighting ceased on July 26. The day has since been marked as Kargil Vijay Diwas (Victory Day) in India. By the end of the war, India had assumed control of all territory south and east of the Line of Control, as it was established in December 1972 as per the Shimla pact.