Centre mulls phase-out of Indian Army personnel from Kashmir Valley: Report

The central government is reportedly planning to remove troops of the Indian Army from the Kashmir Valley around three-and-a-half years after Article 370, which granted the Himalayan state a special status, was revoked.

If the proposal is approved, this will mean that there will be military presence only at the Line of Control (LoC) between India and Pakistan. While there has not been any official confirmation on this, discussions of the proposal are at an "advanced stage" among the Ministries of Defence and Home Affairs, armed forces of the country, and the Jammu and Kashmir police, according to The Indian Express.

However, it is believed that once Indian Army personnel are removed from the Valley, troops of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) would be brought in to manage the law and order situation as well as take over anti-terror operations.

Read | Post-Pulwama attack, security situation in Kashmir improved: CRPF IG

The publication spoke to a senior security official regarding the issue, who said, “The matter is under serious discussion at inter-ministerial level and it is understood to be feasible. In a way, the decision has been taken and it is a matter of when it will be done. Ultimately, however, it will be a political call”.

“However, at the moment, the Union Territory police force is not being viewed as fully prepared and having the wherewithal to replace the Army on its own. So, the idea is to have J&K Police along with the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) fill in for the Army when it is withdrawn.” a senior official of the home ministry told the publication.

The central government has been claiming that since Article 370 was revoked in 2019, terrorist attacks in the Valley have come down by almost 50 per cent.

The aforementioned official further added that the proposal is to carry out a three-part phasing out of the Army’s Rashtriya Rifles (RR) from the Valley and replacing them with the CRPF. However, the plan is to decrease the presence of RR personnel in the Valley and not to remove them completely, another official told the publication.

Formed in 1990, the Rashtriya Rifles have carried out a number of counter-terrorism operations in Kashmir since then. However, since 2005, such operations in Srinagar have been exclusively carried out by the CRPF and the Jammu and Kashmir Police.