For six decades, the Indian border has been the raison d’etre — the very reason for existence-of the Pakistan army. Most formations, including its two Strike Corps, are aggressively positioned near the border to counter Indian forces.

So, when the Rawalpindi-based Pakistan GHQ started pulling out elite troops from the Indian frontier for the war against terror in Waziristan, Indian Intelligence agencies knew something had deeply gone wrong along Pakistan’s western flank.

Latest estimates, drawn up by Indian intelligence agencies through various inputs, show that Pakistani force levels along the Indian border have fallen to an all-time low. As many as 15 Infantry Brigades — roughly accounting for 38,000 troops — have been moved to Waziristan and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) within the past year.

Five of these brigades — reserve troops and units stringed together from various formations — were sent in last month to fight the Taliban. Not only soldiers from the elite strike corps, trained to slice into India in the event of war, but also reserves with the GHQ in Rawalpindi were mobilized last month.

In New Delhi, the Cabinet Committee on Security, headed by the Prime Minister, was briefed recently by top Army officials that Pakistani troops were being pulled away and force levels across the border were at an all-time low.

Intelligence data shows that elements from the Mangla-based Army Reserve North (ARN) and Multan-based Army Reserve South (ARS), the two strike corps, have been dispatched to either Peshawar or Quetta for deployment along the troubled Afghan frontier.

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