Wednesday, April 27 2005 09:03 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Islamabad: Top commanders of Pakistan Army presided by President Pervez Musharraf in Islamabad yesterday (Apr 26, 2005) discussed alleged threat perceptions from India specially to counter "Cold Start Doctrine", envisaging lighting attacks to capture territory, purported to have been considered by the Indian Army in future hostilities with Pakistan.

For the second day yesterday, the 58th Formation Commanders Conference deliberated on implications "of the threat and response parameters", an official press release in Islamabad said.

"The day was devoted to the briefings and discussion on matters of professional importance. The participants were briefed on the threat spectrum including the "Cold Start Doctrine" propagated last year by India, newly raised South Western Command, Rapid Reaction Force, Special Forces Command, Indian Force goals and status of their development plans", it said.

The "Cold Start Doctrine" purportedly dwelt on rapid and lightning attacks on the enemy territory during war and capture it well before rival forces were mobilised to counter the attack.

Musharraf said the balance of power was the best guarantee of peace and Pakistan would maintain the minimum defensive deterrence both in conventional and non-conventional areas, the release said.

"Deliberating upon the security situation, the participants discussed the external and internal factors and showed satisfaction over the various steps taken to respond to the different scenarios," it said adding the participants dilated upon various implications of the threat and response parameters.

While reviewing the ongoing restructuring plan of the Army as well as the short to long-term development plans, the participants showed satisfaction that these were proceedings, as per the envisaged benchmarks, it said.

The five lakh strong Pakistan Army earlier planned to downsize the force by 50,000 troops last year.

The commanders also witnessed a display of indigenously developed Defence equipment and vehicles. "While some of the equipment is to add value to the combat equipment already in service in the Army, the other is to act as force multiplier," he said.